Radium Hot Springs, informally and commonly called Radium is a village of 1,339 residents in the East Kootenay region of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The village is named for the hot springs in the nearby Kootenay National Park. From

Banff, Alberta Banff is a resort town in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Calgary, east of Lake Louise, Alberta, Lake Louise, and above Banff was the first municipality to incorporate within ...

, it is accessible via Highway 93. The hot springs were named after the radioactive element when an analysis of the water showed that it contained small traces of

radon Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to b ...

which is a decay product of radium. The radiation dosage from bathing in the pools is inconsequential: approximately from the water for a half-hour bathing, around ten times average background levels. The air concentration of radon is about which is higher than the level () at which mitigation within two years is encouraged at residences; but is also inconsequential (about for a half-hour bathing) from a dose impact perspective.

Geography

Radium Hot Springs Looking North BC95 BC93

Radium is 16 km north of the tourist town of Invermere, and 105 km south of

Golden, British Columbia Golden is a town in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, west of Calgary, Alberta, and east of Vancouver. History In 1807, David Thompsonrenowned fur trader, surveyor, and map makerwas tasked by the North West Company to open a trading rou ...

. It is at the junction of Highway 95 and Highway 93, in the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

valley, between the river and Kootenay National Park. Wildlife in the area includes

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

s, black bears, mountain goats and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Radium Hot Springs had a population of 1,339 living in 634 of its 1,366 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 776. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Baymag mines magnesium out of Mount Brussilof, 35 kilometres from town. The deposit was discovered in 1966. Proven reserves in excess of 50 million tonnes of

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula ( magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic r ...

ore were found. The ore is trucked to Exshaw, Alberta for

calcination Calcination is thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound (e.g. mixed carbonate ores) whereby the compound is raised to high temperature without melting under restricted supply of ambient oxygen (i.e. gaseous O2 fraction of air), generally f ...

, other processes and onwards sale.

Amenities

Several

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s are located nearby, along with 675 hotel and motel rooms.

Kootenay National Park

The southwestern entrance to Kootenay National Park is located immediately east of the village limits, with Highway 93 leading into the park lined with motels.

Hot springs

The hot springs complex itself is located just within the national park and contains two large pools, one with hot water for soaking (usually around the temperature of ), the other a 25 m swimming pool that is usually around . There is also a hot-tub-sized pool that has been dubbed the "Plunge Pool", because the water can be hot right from the source at or cold, right from a creek running beneath the pools.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Hot springs of British Columbia Populated places in the Regional District of East Kootenay British Columbia populated places on the Columbia River Villages in British Columbia