Many of Kaslo’s outdoor activities centre on Kootenay Lake, one of BC’s largest inland lakes. Enjoy fishing for Gerrard rainbow trout and kokanee. Paddle amid the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains. Enjoy lakeside camping under the stars.
Kootenay National Park offers great swimming, fishing, paddling and camping opportunities. Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park’s rugged wilderness attracts experienced mountaineers and campers. Goat Range Provincial Park offers fine backcountry camping, hiking and fishing. Experienced wilderness enthusiasts can visit the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park to fish, hike, climb and horseback ride.
Kaslo is home to over 60 designated heritage buildings, including the award-winning Langham Cultural Centre.
Tour the historic S.S. Moyie, the last and longest operating passenger sternwheeler in Canada, now dry-docked at the edge of Kootenay Lake in Kaslo.
Follow Highway 31A between New Denver and Kaslo to see the remains of the Retallack townsite and Sandon, two famous ghost towns. Visit the Sandon Museum to experience a city that once thrived as the centre of the world's largest silver-mining boom.
Don’t miss the annual Kaslo Jazz Festival in August. You can slip into the mineral-rich waters of Ainsworth Hot Springs year-round.
In winter, Kaslo is your gateway to alpine skiing, cat-skiing, cross-country skiing, skating, snowmobiling and ice fishing.
For easy hiking and biking, take the River Walk along Kaslo River. Warder Trail leads to a viewpoint overlooking the village and Kootenay Lake. Head into the scenic mountains surrounding Kaslo for more strenuous hiking, or follow the trails in nearby
Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park.
Vehicle-accessible and lakeside camping can be had in
Kootenay National Park as well as Kaslo’s private campgrounds. Backcountry campers can try Kokanee Glacier and Goat Range Provincial Parks.
Take in the beautiful scenery along the 9-hole Kaslo Golf Course.
Hang gliders can launch from beautiful Buchanan Lookout, northeast of Kaslo.
Kaslo features 60 designated heritage buildings including the Langham Cultural Centre, originally constructed as a hotel in 1896. The restored building now houses an art gallery, theatre and a museum honouring the Japanese-Canadians interned in Kaslo during World War II.
Take a self-guided tour of the historic S.S. Moyie, the last and longest operating passenger sternwheeler in Canada, now dry-docked at the edge of Kootenay Lake in Kaslo.
Tour the restored Langham Cultural Centre, an award-winning heritage building housing a 75-seat theatre, an art gallery and the Japanese Canadian Museum, dedicated to the Japanese-Canadians interned in Kaslo during World War II.
Follow Highway 31A between
New Denver and Kaslo to explore two famous ghost towns: Sandon and Retallack. Visit the Sandon Museum for a taste of a city that once thrived as the centre of the world's largest silver-mining boom. A series of abandoned buildings along the highway also mark the eerie remains of the former townsite of Retallack. Stop in at the Kootenay Star Museum along the way.
Look for petroglyphs carved by First Nations inhabitants on the cliff walls across Kootenay Lake, southeast of Kaslo.
Celebrate the annual Kaslo Jazz Festival in August, where world-class musicians perform from a floating stage on pristine Kootenay Lake.
Langham Cultural Centre is a restored heritage building that houses a 75-seat theatre where musicians and theatre groups perform.
Several nearby provincial parks offer rugged wilderness and inviting outdoor adventure.
The Davis Creek and Lost Ledge areas of Kootenay Lake Provincial Park offer great swimming, fishing, canoeing and kayaking as well as secluded, lake-view campsites.
Cody Caves Provincial Park, south of Kaslo, is a day-use park with a natural limestone cave system where you can take guided spelunking tours.
Experienced hikers, mountaineers and backcountry campers enjoy the rugged wilderness of
Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. The park has good trout fishing and wildlife viewing including golden eagles and some mule deer, black and grizzly bears.
Goat Range Provincial Park’s old-growth forest, alpine meadows and lakes offer ideal backcountry camping, hiking and fishing. The wilderness park protects the only natural spawning site of the giant Gerrard rainbow trout and is critical habitat for grizzly bears, mountain goats and caribou.
Fish, hike, climb and horseback ride amid the glaciated mountains, alpine lakes and old-growth forest of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy.
Head northwest of Kaslo to Buchanan Lookout for spectacular lake and mountain views.
The popular Idaho Peak lookout offers fine Slocan Valley views and is reached by following a fairly steep, unpaved road for about 12 km (7.5 mi) out of Sandon to the parking lot at the trailhead. From there it’s an approximately one-hour hike through beautiful alpine wildflowers to the lookout.
Slip into the mineral-rich waters of Ainsworth Hot Springs, south of Kaslo. This unique, horseshoe-shaped cave provides an odourless shower of mineralized water that falls from the cave's roof into a waist-deep pool, creating a natural steam bath.
Kootenay Lake teems with fully matured Gerrard rainbow trout, kokanee, Dolly Varden, and whitefish. Great numbers of kokanee can be seen in local spawning channels from August to September.
Canoe or kayak the serene waters of vast Kootenay Lake for awesome views of the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains.
Swim in the cool, refreshing waters off Moyie Beach. This public beach has sand and grassy areas and is located just off Front Street, right in the village of Kaslo.
Head to the “Valley of the Ghosts,” a stretch of Highway 31A that runs between
New Denver and Kaslo, to enjoy snowmobiling on a large network of converted forest service roads.
Some 25 km (15.5 mi) of marked cross-country ski trails can be found near the Kaslo airport. Note that trails are not groomed.
Adventure-lovers can visit a cat-skiing operator based in Retallack (located between New Denver and Kaslo) offering steep slopes with fantastic tree skiing. Cat-skiing is also available at Meadow Creek, north of Kaslo.
Ride some of the area’s best powder snow in the Valhalla Range, suitable for alpine skiers, telemarkers and snowboarders of all skill levels.
Several smaller local lakes freeze over in winter, making ice fishing a popular Kaslo-based activity. You can also skate on some of the village’s frozen lakes.