Radium Hot Springs is a tiny Columbia Valley village with one very good reason to stop: hot mineral water tucked into Sinclair Canyon at the edge of Kootenay National Park. It is less polished than Banff and less busy than the big Alberta resort towns, which is part of the appeal.
The village sits between the Rocky Mountains and the Purcells, just north of Invermere. You come through the narrow red-rock walls of Sinclair Canyon, soak in the Radium Hot Springs pools, then use the place as a low-key base for canyon walks, bighorn sheep sightings, golf, rafting, and the south end of Kootenay National Park.
It is not a big town, and it does not pretend to be one. Radium is best when treated as a mountain pause: warm water, a walk along Sinclair Creek, and a scenic drive into the park.