My Son-in-law and I just returned from spending 4 days at the Lakewood Inn in Kaslo, BC, Canada. The Lakewood inn is an old resort with rustic cabins that are situated on the hillside next to Kootenay Lake about 5 minutes north of the town of Kaslo. The cabin we had was furnished with a kitchen and all utensils and supplies. The only thing you need to bring is your food. It has a gas fireplace as well as baseboard heat in the bedroom equipped with 2 double beds. There is no tv or phone. The owners, Doug and Sue are terrific people that go out of their way to make you feel welcome. This is a pet friendly resort, dogs are allowed. Sue has equipped the cabins with reading materials and games for entertainment, Ours had several kids games, trivial pursuit and a collection of old magazines that dated back to the 30's. The resort has a boat launch and moorage available, moorage was $3 per day and Doug will launch and pull out your boat if you desire. The launch ramp is very steep. Bring a flashlight is you plan on going out at night, there are no outside lights at night to detract from the view of the stars. While we went there in November for the fishing, this is a very popular summer resort and books early, I would recommend booking 6 months ahead of time except of July and August which should be booked a year in advance. The rate on our cabin was $65 a night (canadian) for one and $5 for additional persons. They have larger cabins that have sleeping for up to 12 persons. The fishing this year was slow, My son-in-law caught a 7 1/2 lb rainbow trout and I was skunked. If you are going there for the fishing, I would recommend from Sept to December and late march to early June for the big rainbows. and the summer months for Kokanee (landlocked sockeye salmon) Rainbows caught range in the high 20 lb range, limit 5 per year. Kokanee are normally about a 1 lb fish, limit 10 per day and much easier to catch. There are a few restaurants in town, We usually eat at the Treehouse restaurant, meals will cost you about $6 to $10 canadian. We exchanged our money at the bank for a better exchange rate and got $399.60 canadian for $280 US. The best way to pay is to use credit cards, that way you get the exact exchange rate and avoid the 2% profit the bank takes and the exchange. The Lakewood Inn accepts mastercharge only at this time. There is a pay phone in town for calls and your cell phone will work from the center of the lake, but nowhere else. Kootenay lake is a very large lake and the water can get very rough, especially in a south wind. I would not recommend a small boat except in the summertime and even then stay close to shelter. We had an 18 foot Sea-ray and felt comfortable the entire time. The scenery is spectacular and the area has a very interesting history. The oldest sternwheeler in the world is now beached there and has been turned into a museum. When entering the resort, take notice of the speed limit signs, the road is steep with 2 switchbacks. If you are driving a Ford F250 extended cab as we were, you will not be able to turn sharp enough to make the corner on the switchbacks without backing up. I recommend taking the alternate driveway marked at the first switchback. You can find the Lakewood Inn and other Kaslo accomodations by searching for "Kaslo motels" or at WWW.ohwy.com/bc/l/lakewoin.htm Kaslo is a 4 1/2 hour drive from Spokane, Washington, about 10 hours from Vancouver, BC and about 12 hours from Calgary, Alberta.
The roads are good but you should carry chains if you visit between mid October and late March, there are several passes to go over to get there.
Our stay was very peaceful and relaxing, I enjoyed it even though I didn't get a fish. Fishing Licenses are about $40 US for the rainbow and about $25 US for other species. These are non resident rates. If you are a canadian citizen they are much cheaper. There is a tackle shop in town on the main highway into town and also at the Beachcomber resort on the way to the Lakewood Inn.



Recommended: Yes