![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ehcanadatravel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/alpha-pool-view.jpg\" "\\"Alpha")
<\/a>Viewing deck at hot springs<\/p><\/div>\n
For us here, winter and writing, is a time of reflection. Often as we build on our travel and tourism websites, we sneak outdoors for a winter adventure and often, out of the blue, adventures of the past float in and out of our thoughts.<\/p>\n
The snow and colder temperatures sometimes remind us of\u00a0 destinations we would love to visit after the snow has fallen. A destination we experienced in the summer but have yet to experience in the winter ..\u00a0 one such memorable destination is the Liard Hot Springs<\/a>.<\/p>\n In British Columbia, Canada there are many hot spring destinations, too many to list, especially in the Kootenays region.\u00a0 Most of the hot springs in British Columbia are well developed commercial enterprises with concrete pools, gift shops and accommodations.\u00a0 There is only one which sticks out in our mind that is easily accessible and has been left in its natural setting surrounded by a forest of trees.\u00a0 There are others but they require backpacking \u00a0 trips into the back country to access.<\/p>\n Boardwalk trail leading to hot springs.<\/p><\/div>\n The Liard Hot Springs located\u00a0 a few hours before you cross the Yukon border from British Columbia is housed in a campground park in the middle of nowhere in the Liard Valley on the Alaska Highway<\/a>.<\/p>\n The only commercial enterprise in the area is a small gas station, restaurant and accommodation combo across the highway from the hot springs campground entrance. But as for the hot springs themselves, they are naturally preserved and isolated in the thick of a wilderness forest.<\/p>\n To access the hot springs one must walk a boardwalk trail leading into the forest, first passing through a wetland bog (great for birdwatching) before reaching the first natural hot spring (called the Alpha Pool).\u00a0 The hot spring is majestic and is rich with history dating back to a time\u00a0 when the First Nation and early settlers first found the hot spring.\u00a0 It feels that natural and that untouched. There is little development – a changing station and a poolside walking deck.<\/p>\n Continue up the trail from the first pool and there is a second, smaller hot spring which is more personal (called the Beta Pool). On our visits it has always been closed down due to bear sightings. I can understand that..\u00a0 they were here first… and it is always wise to show nature some respect.<\/p>\n<\/a>