Nakusp, British Columbia in May

Shortly after our wedding, Bren and I made a pact that we would no longer buy each other “things” for our birthdays, christmas, anniversaries, etc. Instead, we would go on an adventure or try something new. This year for my birthday Bren booked us a cabin at Serenity Views on Arrow Lake, just north of Nakusp. It cost us only $110/night, which included an extra $10/night for a pet charge. The owners warned us that the stay would be similar to camping – we would have to get water from a tap outside, very limited power and no showers… but these were actually the features that drew us to this place. When we pulled in the driveway and got out of the car, I was a little confused on where the cabin was. While Brendon went in to talk to the owners, I started looking around and saw the trails leading down to the cabin. I was instantly excited. The cabin was a short walk down a path and located on a hillside surrounded by trees and mossy forest floor. The cabin had two rooms – the first one was an enclosed porch with large windows overlooking Arrow Lake. The second room was in the back of the cabin and had the kitchen, bedroom and a wood stove. There is a bathroom with a marine style toilet but asked is we could you use the outhouse.
We didn’t bring any food with us because we wanted to eat local during our stay. We bought most out meat from Cut Rite Meats & Deli. Saturday morning, we went to the local farmers market to get our produce and check out the local artisans.
We both left our phones at home so that we could fully enjoy every minute of our stay, undistracted. We spent most of our time – eating, exploring, relaxing, reading, fishing, and napping. They have kayaks, a canoe and a paddle boat that you can rent. We weren’t having much luck fishing from the shore so we rented the canoe for a half day, at a cost of $20. I caught the one and only fish! We aren’t 100% sure what it was but it tasted awesome.

We didn’t have a clock so we woke shortly after the sun came up and we made dinner as soon as we finished watching the sun go down. I wish that I could live every day on this schedule.
Before we made our way home, we went to find some undeveloped hot springs we had heard about just outside of Nakusp. I don’t want to be the one to tell you exactly how to get there because part of the charm of this place is that not many people know about it….buuut it is easy to find the directions online if you do want to try and find them yourself. A warning, you might come across some nudists while you are there. We were pretty awkward at first because we weren’t expecting it, it was also our first nudism encounter, but we eventually joined them in the pools (with suits on!). The experience brought a whole new meaning to “natural hot springs.”
The main pools are located beside the river and you can move the rocks around to adjust the temperature or the size of the pool. These are the pools that I have included photos of and the only pools we used. A little farther up the river, there are two tubs that were built by someone, where you can fill with the hoses or with buckets of cold water from the river. There are also spots to camp if you wanted to come for a few days. This was, without question, one of my favourite spots we have found. Not really knowing where we were going was exciting, the scenery is breathtaking and the pools were so neat!