From Osoyoos to Christina Lake then onto Nakusp Hot Springs – Circle Tour day 4 and 5

By PoMoDee

Another fine sunny day for a drive along Highway 3 on our way to Christina Lake. As we pulled out from Nk’Mip campground and headed up the switchbacks (known as Anarchist Mountain), we passed where our friends Connie and Bruce live. It is there on their property that you can see a Tipi and a Tiny House from the road as you head out of the Osoyoos Valley.

This was day 4 on our circle tour looping up to Nakusp Hot Springs taking Highway 3 and then Highway 6 to Nakusp and Hwy 6 back to Vernon before running down Highway 5 to Merritt and home on the Trans Canada Hwy 1 to Port Moody.

The Tiny House project, by artist Emily Luce, Rodney Sayers and Alan Maten. It is a miniature replica on wheels of the well-known Cardiff/Miller House in Lethbridge, which has been a home to many artists over the years. Not only does it mirror the historical architectural details of the original house but inside are over 40 tiny art works from artists that are in some way connected to the local house.

Connie and Bruce’s family and friends as well as the occasional peek-a-booers come to see the Tiny House and leave a little token of different coins from around the world (Darlene chose to leave a flattened Las Vegas stamped penny from her recent trip).

As you can see there is more than enough room for two adults at one time. Once this art project was completed, it seems as though Tiny House Nation took off and people are downsizing to live in sizes known less than the average bedroom.

Leaving Osoyoos and heading east highway 3 runs parallel to the Canada

US border and on this plateau above Osoyoos driving through the first few kilometers of pines one sees some interesting art at the entrance of roads leading to new subdivisions. We spotted what looked like bronzed statues an Elk, a Raven and even a Sasquatch. Carrying on you reach the

summit of Anarchist Mountain which is 1,139 metres above sea level and located at the summit is a BC Highways webcam so you can check the driving conditions ahead of time.

52 km (32 mi) east of Osoyoos, the Highway 3 also known as the Crowsnest highway meets the junction with Highway 33 at Rock Creek. Rock Creek is a small community and offers the opportunity to gas up which we did. One of our relatives lives in Rock Creek so we spent some time on their deck catching up on news. And what a difference a year makes, as the small community of Rock Creek in 2015 was placed on high alert and then evacuated with fast moving Rock Creek forest fire which, if you google “Rock Creek, BC” you can read about. It was fortunate that everyone escaped with their lives and most of the properties were saved by the firefighters for which we are thankful.

Leaving Rock Creek we drove through the communities of Midway and Greenwood before stopping in Grand Forks. Highway 3 along this section is a rolling landscape of hills, grasslands and vistas.

Grand Forks is a picturesque community in what is commonly known as the Boundary Country, a region found between the Okanagan Valley and the Kootenays. The town is situated in farmland and surrounded by wilderness. We saw deer walking the streets and the town displays its Doukhobor past. We stopped at the Visitor Info Centre which is housed in the Heritage Courthouse. Well worth a visit for history buffs and those with inquiring minds – like us.

We had to push on as our destination was Christina Pines Campground at Christina Lake. We arrived at 6:00 pm and were greeted by an

entrance full of hanging baskets and lovely shrubs the hosts Elvira Weibe and her husband Philip.

Once we hooked up in our site we helped a fellow camper (a newbie from the United States) who arrived in a camperized Mercedes Benz Sprinter. This was their first camping trip and they had picked up the RV from the dealers lot and just headed off. No experience with RVing or camping and in particular how to handle black water (sewage). They were complaining about a foul odour coming from inside their rental, it was soon discovered that it was their black water that was the problem so we got them make a quick run down to the Sani-Station on-site to dump the sewage, we had some extra bio pucks (Bio Pak Tropical Breeze formaldehyde free available at Fraserway) which is meant to break down the sewage on the road until they arrive at their next stop.

We spent a good part of the evening with Elvira and Philip talking about their campground, marketing and their future plans. We ate our steak dinner and shared a beer. After the darkness of the night sank over the campsite we decided to head over to a small grassy patch beside the outdoor pool for a little game of night Bocce. Playoboule In the morning Elvira and Philip gave us a complete tour of the campground.

After pulling out of the campground around 10:00 am we headed for breakfast at Christina Lake Provincial Park and sat on the picnic tables, so evenly spaced and each with its own perfect view of the lake. The sun was shining and people were playing on the beach, as well a number of boats were sailing or cruising the lake.

Around noon we headed out towards our next destination Nakusp Hot Springs. We turned off highway 3

and followed Route 6 North, which winds along the Slocan River passing

through Winlaw, Slocan and on to New Denver. Our only stop was at Summit Lake where we spotted many small Western Toads and took a really great mirror image of the lake in a photo.

We arrived at Nakusp Hot Springs, Chalets and Campground More on Nakusp Hot Springs can be read in Day 6 of our trip blog.

Follow Joss & Darlene’s Circle Tour.

Day 1 – Sunshine Valley Resort

Day 2 & 3 – Osoyoos Here We Come

Day 6 & 7 – Relaxing at Nakusp Hot Springs

Day 7 & 8 – Kelowna, Merritt & Home to Port Moody

For accommodations in British Columbia go to Travel-British-Columbia.com

Share your BC travel photos using hashtag #TravelinBC

There’s always somewhere to #TravelinBC

Published: November 24, 2015
Last Updated: June 1, 2023

About the Author

PoMoDee (Darlene) is a Social Media Manager at BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association. Managing Camping & RVing BC Coalition, Travelling in British Columbia and Camper’s Code. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest. Darlene was born and raised in British Columbia and resides in Port Moody. Darlene is an avid camper, who has been camping since the age of two and still enjoys the serene setting of a campsite. Interests include everything beach, crocheting, crafting. Photography and writing.