The Border Beckons Don’T Miss A Top-Flight Golf Course At Kokanee Springs Resort

In a game of hide and seek, the best hiding place is in the rafters. That’s because most people habitually forget to look up.

Maybe that explains why so few Americans have discovered Crawford Bay, 175 miles due north of Spokane on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia. We Inland Northwesterners keep forgetting to look up.

After a three-day road trip on the International Selkirk Loop (related story, page H3), I can hardly believe that I have spent 11 years in Spokane without realizing this place exists. Crawford Bay is far closer than Seattle, yet many of us don’t have a clue about what a fabulous weekend trip this can make.

The attractions are the usual ones in this land of lush mountains and pristine lakes: hiking, fishing and scenery. Yet Crawford Bay has one other overriding attraction for those of a certain sporting persuasion. It is a dream golf destination.

That’s because the main tourist attraction in this tiny village is the Kokanee Springs Golf Resort. This happens to be a top-notch 18-hole golf course carved out of the cedars along Crawford Creek, not far from Kootenay Lake.

The place is certainly no secret among Canadian golfers, who even in mid-April were attacking the course in respectable numbers. Most of the license plates in the adjoining Kokanee Springs Lodge, a modern motel-like lodge with 21 rooms and five suites, were from Alberta.

“Alberta is our monster market,” said resort manager Greg Garbula as he teed up on his own course. “The Calgary area in particular is a great market for us.”

Yet Calgary is 6-1/2 hours away, and Spokane is only 3-1/2. Garbula said plenty of people from the Inland Northwest have discovered Kokanee Springs, yet many Americans still have some misconceptions about the Great White North.

For one thing, we assume the weather is routinely lousy.

“Our weather patterns are really no different than Spokane’s,” said Garbula. “The fact is, the lake keeps us temperate.”

Since he said this while wearing short sleeves on the 15th tee at 6 p.m. on April 24, his credibility on the issue seemed impeccable. Ominous clouds were gathered over the impossibly tall mountains surrounding the lake, but down in the valley, the sun had been warm and consistent all afternoon.

The elevation of the valley is only about 1,736 feet, not much higher than certain parts of Spokane. The place only appears to be way up in the mountains, since the bright white expanse of Kokanee Glacier (across the lake and way, way up) was spectacularly visible from several tee boxes.

“The fact is, 30 degrees (Fahrenheit) in the winter is extreme for us,” said Garbula.

The course opened in mid-April and was already in lush condition. The signature terraced tee-boxes were not yet ablaze with floral color, as they will be soon, but the daffodils were blooming.

The course has a couple of challenges you won’t find on most. For instance, your ball might land in an elk divot. Elk and deer hoofprints are common in the fairways and sand traps, and one friend of mine once played No. 17 while a black bear foraged in the apple tree that guards the green. (My advice - stay wide right of the bear hazard.)

The course is meticulous, but the clubhouse and pro shop will remind you right away that you are deep in the British Columbia boonies. The clubhouse looks like a steel building, and there’s a mobile home parked not too far away. The parking lots are gravel.

If the clubhouse looks humble, the food and service are surprisingly good, with choices ranging from fish and chips to veal tortellini ($5 to $15 Canadian; use your credit card to get the best exchange rate). There are several other restaurant options in Crawford Bay, including the Abracajava Cafe and the La Chance Swiss Restaurant and Guestlodge, but they were not open when we were there because it was still too early in the season.

The Kokanee Springs Lodge, just a short golf cart ride away, is more stylish and modern than the clubhouse, but you shouldn’t expect amenities. There’s a hot tub on a deck, and that’s it. No pool, no exercise room, no restaurant, no bar. However, it is a perfectly fine place to crash after 18 or 36 holes of golf.

This combination of posh and rustic creates, to me at least, a singularly appealing atmosphere. On one hand, you have a place that is first-rate from a strict golfing standpoint. On the other, you don’t have the formality or snobbery you might have to endure at high-end golf resorts.

This is the kind of place where a bunch of golfing buddies can get together for a few days of intense, concentrated golf without feeling the need to shave.

“We have groups that found the place 20 years ago and come every year,” said Garbula. “They play 18 holes the first day, 36 holes each of the next two days, and 18 holes the last day. That’s our bread and butter. This is one of the last bastions of pure golf.”

The prices are not exactly resort-level either. They vary by season, but the resort was recently advertising packages of $69 (U.S.) per person, per night, for May and June. That includes lodging plus 18 holes of golf with cart.

And if you are there with a non-golfing spouse, for instance, the resort will put together a package with the golf subtracted. Garbula said they are always putting together customized packages for people who don’t want the straight lodging-golf deal.

You can also stay in the Kokanee Chalets, RV Park and Campground; the La Chance Swiss Guestlodge, or in several motels or bed-and-breakfasts nearby.

And what about non-golfers, or those who just don’t want to spend all day on the course?

Crawford Bay has other attractions, especially ones of the artisanal variety. This is a craftwork center, with an iron forger, a glass blower, a weaver and a broommaker all at work right in the village.

A broommaker? Sounds odd, but you have to check out the North Woven Broom Co., right there in a log barn on the main highway (3A), to see what this means. These brooms, some utilitarian, some works of decorative art, are made by hand with raw, unprocessed broomcorn (a variety of tall grass).

This is a true cottage industry. The day we were there, proprietor Janet Schwieger was hand-assembling new brooms for the summer rush.

Just down the highway is the Kootenay Forge, which has exceptional hand-forged iron lamps, hat racks, candlesticks, fireplace tools and many other decorative and utilitarian items. A local glass blower shares the same retail shop right along the highway.

Other than that, the main drag of Crawford Bay is fairly quiet. One day while we were there, a woman was herding her goats through the middle of town.

The natural beauty of Kootenay Lake and the surrounding mountains provides all of the other attractions anyone could possibly need. The high country and the glaciers weren’t accessible in April, but there were a number of excellent hikes near or alongside the lake.

We took the Pilot Bay Lighthouse Trail, a short trek up a hill to a now-unused sentinel high above the lake.

We also took a more challenging hike, the Sawmill Bay Trail to Pilot Bay Marine Park. This trail hugs the hillside high above the lake, providing panoramic views of this 66-mile-long glacier-carved trough. The lake is big enough to get some substantial whitecaps, and as we peered down on the rocky shores, we almost forgot we weren’t on the Olympic Peninsula or Vancouver Island. The shoreline has the same wild coastal character.

Both trails are accessible by driving south from the ferry landing on Pilot Bay Road. For the Sawmill Bay Trail, go about 3 kilometers and look for the Pilot Bay Marine Park signs. Turn left and park at the turnaround. For the lighthouse trail, go 4.5 kilometers south from the ferry landing and look for the trailhead sign on the right.

The best way to see the Kootenay Lake area is to take the International Selkirk Loop route. If you want to get there in a hurry - let’s say you want to get in 18 holes of golf that day - I would suggest going up the Creston side. That way is quicker, since no ferry ride is involved. Still, I would allow four hours from Spokane because if you get behind a slow truck, there are precious few spots to pass.

Then you can return via the Nelson side of the loop, reveling in the scenic ferry ride, exhilarated by the Canadian exchange rate and satiated with golf and glaciers.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

IF YOU GO

For more information on Crawford Bay and Kootenay Lake, write the Kootenay Lake Chamber of Commerce, Box 4, Gray Creek, British Columbia, Canada VOB 1S0, or call (250) 227-9315, or visit the Web site at www.lightwave.bc.ca/klcc.

For information on the Kokanee Springs Golf Resort, call (800) 979-7999 or write Box 96, Crawford Bay, Brtisih Columiba, VOB 1EO.