Unforgettable Places in BC to Restore Your Energy This Year

Restore Your Self: Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort, Parksville

Let Vancouver Island’s old-growth trees work their magic as you discover the healing properties of forest bathing in British Columbia. Walk amongst the trees near Canada’s top-rated spa, the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort on Vancouver Island, allowing its natural medicine to lower your heart rate, ease your stress, and boost your bliss. In the evening, take a soak at the resort’s Grotto Spa for the revitalizing effects of hydrotherapy before retiring to your room for some undisturbed, restorative sleep. 

Restore Your Spirit: Hollyhock, Cortes Island

Mystical Cortes Island is the ideal place to connect body and soul and develop gratitude for nature’s many offerings. Programs at this renowned learning centre focus on wellness and cultivating mindfulness, creativity, and leadership, with many options to choose from. You can take a meditative walk through the French-intensive garden filled with an abundance of vegetables that will later be harvested for your meals, which can be enjoyed by the fire or on the deck overlooking the ocean. 

Complimentary adventures with Hollyhock’s resident naturalist will beguile you with stories of the land, flora, and fauna on a guided hike through the ancient cedar rainforest or on a morning row on the Salish Sea.

Meditation sessions in Hollyhock’s cob sanctuary will help you tune in to the peaceful sounds of the forest, and morning yoga sessions are enjoyed in unique handcrafted buildings with skylights open to the towering trees above. Relax in an ocean-view hot tub, the perfect opportunity for bird, seal, and whale watching, and gain new appreciation—and healing—for all that surrounds you.

Restore Your Humility: Emerald Lake Lodge, Yoho National Park

Sleep among giants in the Canadian Rockies with a stay at Emerald Lake Lodge. On the shores of a pristine jade-coloured lake of the same name, this stunning resort is surrounded by some of the Canadian Rockies’ most impressive peaks.

Here, you’ll surround yourself in history of all scales: The lodge’s interiors hark back to a BC of a century ago, with hand-hewn timber, massive stone fireplaces, and a salvaged oak bar from a 1890s Yukon saloon; and when you step outside, find yourself in the presence of prehistory, as the lodge is situated in one of the most outstanding (and year-round accessible) wilderness settings in North America. Take a moment to be reminded of the tiny speckle you are, then retire to your room with gratitude for bearing witness to the sheer beauty of such a magical place.

Restore Your Balance: Echo Valley Ranch & Spa, Jesmond

Part dude ranch, part Thai spa, Echo Valley Ranch & Spa seems, at first, like a classic rustic western experience. Then you notice the Asian-style architecture.

Indulge in a Thai massage and a cowboy campfire barbecue as east meets west in perfect balance in the Cariboo Chilcotin. This eco-friendly resort sits amidst four distinct geographic regions: Rolling grasslands, the semi-desert Fraser Canyon, the boreal forests of the Cariboo Plateau, and rugged mountains in between. With options from hiking, biking, and horseback riding, to archery and fishing, everyone will find a new passion.

Restore Your Breath: Yasodhara Ashram, Kootenay Bay

Journey to the rugged mountains of Kootenay Bay and discover a calmer, more peaceful side of yourself by committing to a retreat in this sacred setting. Learn the selfless principles of Karma Yoga while reflecting through meditation at Yasodhara Ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Radha more than 50 years ago. 

Guests have access to the Ashram’s many spiritual resources, including the meditation rooms, Temple of Light, an extensive library, and surrounding natural areas for contemplation and walking meditation. First-time guests can begin with a 1-,2-, or 3-week self-guided retreat or a two-month yoga program.

Restore your Glow: Sparkling Hill Resort, Vernon

Perched on the top of Mount Royce overlooking the sparkling lakeside lights of Vernon, this giant crystal-shaped resort is home to KurSpa, which offers guests seven unique steams and saunas, an indoor saltwater pool under a Swarovski crystal starry sky (complete with underwater music), an outdoor infinity pool under an actual starry sky, and a rejuvenatingly chilly –110°C cold sauna.