Banff Springs Eternal
Get the treatment – for less in the Rockies
those mountain spas with their dreamy après-ski treatments and outdoor hot tubs overlooking the wonders of the Rockies are magnificent. But a treatment might set you back a couple hundred bucks. Lucky for regular folks, you’re in Banff, home to the Banff Springs themselves, magnificent streams of mineral-laden hot water that come roiling and boiling out from Sulphur Mountain and are available for the average Joe. And Jo.
Upper Hot Springs, which is run by Parks Canada, is located just a few metres from the bottom of the Sulphur Mountain gondola, quite close to the town of Banff. For a measly $7.30 (kids and seniors get a dollar off), about what you’d spend on a latte and biscotti at Starbucks, you can rest your tired bones and muscles in those very waters that gave this town its name. They regulate the water so it’s a perfect temperature, usually between 37 and 40 C. You won’t get a Swedish massage unless you brought your Swedish significant other to the pool with you but you’ll be able to lounge in warming, soothing waters and soak in one of the best views on the planet – ages-old Rocky Mountain peaks covered with a thick blanket of white snow and deep green conifers under a vivid blue sky.
Parking is free, and there’s a vast change room in an historic old-time bathhouse with showers and $1 lockers. Forgot your towel? They’ll rent you one for less than a toonie. Forgot your bathing suit? You can’t go au naturel but you can rent a suit (they’re industrially washed after each wear) for the same price as a towel. You also can rent one of those old-time massive bathing costumes they wore at the turn of the century and dress up your Facebook page with some vintagecool photos.
The springs are open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., most days in winter and slightly longer in summer. —Jim Byers
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