Canada's cozy lakeside town has trails, beaches, and shops sandwiched between two mountain ranges

If you're planning a classic British Columbia packed with mountain peaks, long hikes, and happy days by the lake, you could do a whole lot worse than adding the little town of Windermere to your itinerary. Clutching the eastern shoreline of its namesake lake, it's tucked into the heart of the Columbia Valley, where it beckons visitors with a historic center dating to the late 19^th century and proximity to the great outdoors. Everything from beach sessions to hardcore hiking is on the menu in these parts.

There's not just one, but two whole chains of mountains surrounding Windermere. The rugged Purcell Mountains, a subrange of the Columbia Mountains estimated to have formed roughly 170 million years ago, shoulder up across the valley to the east. To the west, the bulky Stanford Range of the Rocky Mountains spikes the skies, beginning with the historic mining peak of Mount Swansea before climbing to more than 8,650 feet at Piebald Peak. To put it another way: Mountains abound around little Windermere, and so does mountain adventure!

Already reaching for the boots, bag, and camera? Windermere sits along Highway 93 in southeastern British Columbia. That might sound remote, but the Canadian Rockies International Airport (YXC) in Cranbrook, with its daily links to major regional cities, is only a 1.5-hour drive south. The larger Calgary International Airport (YYC) in the province of Alberta, meanwhile, sits a touch over three hours east and is connected to Windermere via the scenic Banff-Windermere Highway, which passes through the turquoise lakes and mountains of the Kootenay National Park.

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Windermere's variety of hiking trails

Getting onto a hiking trail won't be difficult if you pick Windermere as a base. Think of Highway 93 and Highway 95, which both run right beside the pint-sized town, as the backbone of the whole Kootenay Rockies region. They essentially thread the Purcell Mountains, the Rockies, and a whole host of reserves and parks together.

The best part is you don't have to drive all that far to reach spectacular trails. The web of routes that cover Mount Swansea is one of the top draws here and sits under a 10-minute drive via Windermere Loop Road. From the trailhead, you can embark on a challenging 7.8-mile loop that rewards you with seasonal wildflowers and vistas of the Columbia River winding into the distance.

Windermere is also a prime access point for the trek up Pinto Mountain. That's 5.8 miles in all, but clocks up over 3,000 feet in elevation gain, including a scrambling section on a ridge to conquer the summit. Expect finale views that take in the Rockies, the Purcells, and a speckling of forest-ringed towns far below.

Shop, chill, and enjoy the charm of little Windermere

While the mountains keep watch on all sides, the bijou community of Windermere quietly ticks over to the rhythms of lakeside life. There's plenty to do on rest days between hikes, whether you just want to kick back and relax, hit the shops, or hop to cafes. There's even a planned historical walking tour of the town for those keen on local heritage, whisking you by the old Windermere Hotel from 1899 and by the so-called Stolen Church, which is named that way because it was originally supposed to be built in Revelstoke, touted as the world's best powder ski resort.

Prefer the beach? Travel Columbia Valley, an organization dedicated to promoting travel in the surrounding region, lists Windermere Public Beach as one of the very best around, both for families who want to laze on the grassy banks and for watersports buffs who want to launch the kayak. Visitors seem to agree. One reviewer on Google awarded it five stars, noting it's a fine place to dodge the crowds of the nearby resort destination of Invermere. "It is a small but really good beach. A lot of shade, picnic tables, much quieter than Invermere beach," they wrote.

Local is the keyword when it comes to shopping in Windermere. Head to Hopkins Harvest along Highway 93/95 to find British Columbia food products, from organic produce to locally baked sourdough.  Just a few steps away, Windermere General Store sells essentials like fuel and coffee alongside Windermere-themed souvenirs.

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Read the original article on Islands.