Small central wholefood café where food is generally made with fresh local ingredients and where a relaxed atmosphere reigns. It opens at brunchtime (10am) for breakfast, when it serves good burritos ($8.25) and lighter items. Mexican items also make the lunch menu, but there are plenty of other choices such as a falafel pita ($9.25), wraps, sandwiches and the like....

Its location in the Fernie Arts Station, the town’s main alternative venue, adds flavour to this bistro even before you sit down. The food picks up on the theme, offering creative, hand-crafted breakfasts and lunches to food lovers. The menu includes various eggy starts to the day, soups, sandwiches, salads, burgers (excellent bison burgers $15) and the like. But don’t...

Castle Mountain‘s the least known Canadian Rockies resort, and probably because there’s no mountain town near by, but there’s a lot of great terrain here and remarkably few people to compete with for fresh snow – of which it gets about as much as any other Rockies resort. The only real snags are its remoteness and that its the winds...

Friendly, bright and busy café with light wood décor and healty (often vegan and gluten free) food. Granola-based breakfasts are followed by soups, sandwiches and such, including several great Asian dishes: the tofu, spinach and rice Buddha Bowl ($12.25) is excellent thanks to its tahini and garlic dressing. Good option for indie and folksy live music on many evenings (from...

Without question one of the best mountain biking destinations in the world, Fernie has so many mountain biking trails that you write a book about them. That’s why Fernie Mountain Bike Club has been involved in producing a slick book ($20) that’s well worth picking up at any local bike or outdoor store. Part of the proceeds fund all-important trail...

Fernie Wilderness Adventures are the main local competitor to Island Lake Lodge‘s catskiing operation, but offer a less expensive and rougher-edged experience. Their lodge is remoter and far simpler. Its terrain is also a little different – a little less extreme perhaps, but with the benefits that virtually all of it is skiable virtually all of the time. The snow...

Upscale lodge and catskiing operation with a huge amount of astounding terrain, including an abundance of steep chutes and natural half pipes, a favorite with boarders. Three-day packages here start at $2,189. In summer the lodge offers Bed and Breakfast accommodation from $159 and has an expensive restaurant (daily 11am–10pm) with a lovely outdoor deck and top-quality regional food –...

Superb ride that climbs above treeline for peerless prairie and Rocky Mountain views before a long twisty, rocky and rooty, but fast, descent. It’s a big ride that takes a lot of energy even if you shuttle it between the start and finish points (see map in entry photos). Without the shuttle, you’ll need to add a fairly shadeless 17km...

From its perch in a heavily-wooded and fairly remote acreage above Golden, this attractive log home overlooks the Columbia Valley and Purcell Mountains. A rustic mountain feel extends to interiors too, with handmade furniture, antiques and Canadian Pacific Railway memorabilia providing a vaguely late-19th-century feel (which you can contemplate outside in the 21st-century hot tub). The friendly hosts go to...

This loop takes in Musser’s Plateau trail, a superb but challenging trail with lots of rocky sections and steep stretches on narrow exposed trails. The more suspension the better! Start: From parking lot on North Star Drive, beside the resort lifts. (Pass resort on Gerry Sorensen Way and look for a left turn). Directions: A big grind up the face...

Originally serving as quarters for peasants working in apple orchards, this 17th-century Bavarian farm building was dismantled and shipped to Kimberley in the 1990s to become a magnificent novelty. In keeping with the surroundings the delicious food here is mostly Alpine – Swiss Raclette, Schnitzel, potato dumplings, and Apple strudel – though dishes like garlic prawns make for variety and...

Wondered what Fernie’s houses might have looked like a hundred years ago? Well, here’s the answer… This downtown B&B inhabits a former Nurses Residence, in use as such until the 1980s. Since then it’s been restored to its original Victorian elegance with the help of period antiques, quilts and furnishings. More modern highlights are top-quality chiropractic mattresses and wholesome cooked...

Upper-end motel mid-way between downtown Fernie and the ski hill, whose facilities include a pool with water-slide. But the real draw here is the surprising presence of an Indian restaurant – the Mountain Tandor, which serves Fernie’s best ethnic cuisine. Mains lie around the $15 mark – but include rice or nan bread. Free wifi; continental breakfast included.

Field might be an odd spot to find a hip gourmet Bistro, but that’s just what Truffle Pigs is, with its emphasis on fresh local ingredients to create treats for your tastebuds. It’s a great spot, with funky decor (flying pigs!), great valley views and a good range of snacks, home-baked breads and cakes. But the bistro’s probably most renowned...