After the Sandon turn-off Hwy 31A drops into the
Slocan Valley
, a minor but still spectacular lake-bottomed tributary between the main Kootenay and Columbia watersheds, and meets Hwy 6 at
NEW DENVER
. Born of the same silver-mining boom as Kaslo, and with a similarly pretty lakeside setting and genuine pioneer feel, New Denver is, if anything, quieter than its neighbour. The clapboard houses are in peeling, pastel- painted wood, and the tree-lined streets are mercifully free of neon, fast food and most evidence of tourist passage. In town, the
Silvery Slocan Museum
, housed in the old wooden Bank of Montréal building at the corner of 6th Avenue and Bellevue (July & Aug 10.30am-4.30pm; $2; tel 358-2201), is good for twenty minutes on the background and artefacts of the area's mining heritage.
Well-signposted from the highway the moving
Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre
at 306 Josephine St (May-Sept daily 9.30am-5pm, rest of year by appointment; $4; tel 358-7288), is the only museum in Canada dedicated to the 22,000 Nikkei (Canadians of Japanese ancestry) who, in 1942, were forcibly relocated from the coast to remote internment camps in the interior after Pearl Harbour. Beautiful Japanese gardens now surround the wooden shacks and outhouses that the Nikkei were forced to build themselves. Although the majority of Nikkei were Canadian citizens, they were all labelled "enemy aliens" and stripped of their possessions, homes and businesses. It wasn't until 1988 that former prime minister Brian Mulroney finally apologized to Japanese-Canadians and awarded them token monetary compensation. Inside the cultural centre an exhibition tells the story through photos, paintings and artefacts.
There's no official
infocentre
in New Denver, but local bookshops or a business, such as Nuru Designs (summer daily 10am-4pm; tel 358-2733), are the places to contact for specific information on the surrounding valley. As a stopover it's appealing but not quite as enticing as Kaslo; its
accommodation
possibilities include a single beach-hut-type motel, the
Valhalla Inn
, 509 Slocan Ave (tel 358-2228; $60-80); the lakeview
Sweet Dreams Guest House
(tel 358-2415; $60-80), a restored heritage home on Slocan Lake at 720 Eldorado Ave; and the simple
New Denver Municipal Campground
(tel 358-2316; $13-16; May-Sept) on the south side of the village. Four kilometres north of town on Hwy 6 is the
Rosebury Provincial Park
campsite ($9.50; April-Oct) on the banks of Wilson Creek, a lightly forested site with lake and mountain views. For
food
in the village try 6th Avenue, where you'll find the relaxed
Apple Tree Sandwich Shop
and the bistro
Panini
. There's more accommodation and a campsite at Silverton, another tiny former mining village just 4.5km south of New Denver on Hwy 6.
