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| Yurt Camping at Radius Retreat, Radium Hot Springs, BC |
I should clarify that we didn't exactly camp "on top of a mountain" but rather, we camped on a scenic bench overlooking the Columbia Valley outside the Village of Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia.
Mountain summit or not, it certainly felt like a mountain, AND, our nearest neighbors were a kilometre away! This was the most private campsite we've ever had, and we enjoyed sitting around our campfire without having to listen to drunken neighbors partying around us at a noisy campground.
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| Just us on our bench overlooking the Columbia Valley - and no neighbors for a kilometre! |
Introduction to the Radius Yurt Retreat
We recently spent a night camping at Radius Yurt Retreat, a short 5 minute drive outside Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia. Drive towards Golden and you'll see the sign for Radius as soon as you leave the Village. (It's close enough that we could see the lights of Radium from our yurt at night.)
From Calgary, it's a short 3 hour drive to reach Radium Hot Springs so you can easily reach Radius for a weekend getaway. (And come summer with the long daylight hours, you'll even have time to hike in Friday night.)
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| Our yurt, the Perch, at Radius Retreat |
The Yurts at Radius Retreat
Radius has 7 yurts on their property and they all require at least a short hike to access. Most of them are well separated one from another so you should never feel as if you have neighbors (the Hollow and the Burrow aside since they share the same meadow.)
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| Hike-in yurts at Radius Retreat in Radium Hot Springs |
Below is a quick introduction to the yurts:
Yurts that require a 3 to 10 minute walk:
The Den - 100 metres from the parking lot with 50 metres of elevation gain. Very family-friendly, this yurt sleeps 5 people. Camp here and you'll be at your yurt in a three minute walk! (great for families who want to explore the area while camping here and will be coming and going a lot rather than staying at camp the whole time.)
The Drey - 300 metres from the parking lot with 10 metres of elevation gain. Very family-friendly, this yurt sleeps 5 people. Camp here and you can push toddlers to camp in a chariot or have the kids get to their yurt on balance bikes. (another great yurt for families who want to explore the area while camping here and will be coming and going a lot.)
The Roost - 400 metres from the parking lot with 40 metres of elevation gain. This yurt only sleeps 3 people but you can fit extra children on the floor if you bring some camping mattresses with you. (just keep your extra numbers within the family and don't plan to host a party.) This is another great yurt for families wanting to come and go a lot rather than spending their whole weekend at the yurt.
The Hollow and the Burrow - 700 metres from the parking lot with 42 metres of elevation gain. These two yurts share the same meadow and are ideal for families wanting to travel together. They sleep 3 people per yurt but you can fit extra children on the floor as I mentioned above with the Roost. As with the others, these yurts are ideal for families wanting to spend time exploring the valley during the daytime.
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| Hiking through the meadow where you'll find the Hollow and the Burrow yurts |
Yurts that require a "bit more effort"
The Nest - 2.4 kilometres from the parking lot with 121 metres of elevation gain. This yurt sleeps 3 people and will require a bit of commitment and planning to reach. Stay here and you are officially "backpacking." You'll also be spending a lot more time at camp unless you want to spend an hour hiking out, and another hour hiking back in each time you want to go to town.
The Perch (where we stayed) - 2.5 kilometres from the parking lot with 216 metres of elevation gain (and trust me, I heard a lot of "why did you choose the furthest yurt with so much climbing?!!!" on the hike in!) This yurt also sleeps 3 people and requires a commitment to spend a lot of time at camp. It took us just over an hour to reach our yurt and so we weren't planning on repeating that multiple times a day to go down to the town.
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| Packed and ready to hike down to town for breakfast |
And note that all yurts are pet-friendly at no extra charge. (so bring Fido with you.)
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| My boys hiking in to the Perch on easy-to-follow roads through the property |
And don't get too excited by that road above - you still have to hike in!!
You can ski, snowshoe, bike, push a chariot, pull a wagon, or bring kids on balance bikes - but you can not drive to your yurt.
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| Climbing to the upper yurts at Radius |
What's Included with your stay at Radius Yurt Retreat
Each yurt comes with the following:
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| How's this for a convenient bathroom! |
- 1 Custom Built Queen Bed with 1 Single Bunk overtop. The beds have Beautyrest Mattresses on them so this is a far cry from sleeping on the ground! - bring your own sleeping bags (and pillows if you want them)
- IF you are in a yurt that sleeps 5 people you will also get an additional trundle bed with single mattresses
- Indoor Wood Burning Fireplace
- Chopped Wood, Fire Starter and Matches
- An indoor Table and chairs or stools
- Solar Lighting (with a USB charging system if you want to charge your phone and remembered to bring a charging cable)
- 2 Burner Propane Stove (propane not provided)
- 100% Recycled Outdoor Chairs
- Picnic Table and Log Seats at the Fire Pit Area
- Bear hangs near each site to protect your food from wild animals
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| Beds and table inside our yurt |
I also want to mention that your vehicle will be perfectly safe while you stay at Radius Retreat. The company emails you a code to the front gate the day before your stay. Enter the code at the gate and you'll gain access to the property where your vehicle stays protected from break-ins or theft.
The same code that you receive for the front gate is also the code you'll use to get into your yurt (each one has a key code on the door.) - there is no staff on site when you arrive so make sure you ask all your questions BEFORE you arrive.
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| Table and wood burning stove inside our yurt |
I also recommend having a copy of the Radius property map saved to your phone so you can find your way around the trails when you arrive. For the most part though, follow the sign with a picture of a yurt on it from the parking lot. There is one main road you'll follow the entire time and it has a sign for each yurt when it's time to turn off onto your individual path.
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| The start of your journey at the parking lot! Follow the signs and you won't get lost |
What can you do while staying at Radius Yurt Retreat
Radius Retreat has a two night minimum policy so you'll want to have some plans for what to do when you're staying here.
If you're staying in one of the lower yurts you can easily drive to town and explore the Columbia Valley.
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| There are many beautiful places to explore across the Columbia Valley |
If you're looking for activities to enjoy on the Radius property I recommend the following:
- There are almost 1000 acres to explore around the Radius property and you'll find 4 different signed trails around the yurts that you can hike, bike, and explore.
- You can hike from the Nest Yurt over to the Radium Hot Springs pools in town. There were directions in our yurt that said to hike past the Nest on the left/upper side of the Raven Trail. When the trail curves hard at the Raven Sign, go straight and then over the boundary. It said you could get to the hot springs by following this path. - see the map here.
(Note I'd also suggest you ask the folks who work at Radius Retreat for directions and the exact distance of the hike prior to your visit just to clarify what I've written out above.) - If you are camped in one of the yurts that sits on a meadow (the Hollow, the Burrow, or the Roost) you'll have lots of room to let the kids run around and you can even bring a soccer ball with you. The Drey also comes recommended for those wanting space to run around. Bring the bocce set, the frisbee, a football, or other activities for your family.
- Bring board games and books in with you and spend some time chilling at your yurt. (Ideal if you are in the Den with the hammocks!)
- The Nest has a spacious deck perfect for yoga mats!
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| We spent a lot of time hanging out at our fire pit on our gorgeous bench overlooking the valley |
Cooking, Water, and Logistics
This is where it gets a bit tricky at Radius. There are two non-potable (meaning you have to boil the water before drinking it) water stations on the property. The first is at the trailhead parking lot. This is fine if you're staying at one of the lower yurts. You'll just want to bring a wagon or chariot with you to transport the water to your yurt.
The second water station is located at the upper junction between the Nest and the Perch. From this junction it is still half a kilometre to the yurts though (and ours was still very uphill from this junction.) Getting water to the upper yurts will be a challenge - especially because I don't know if you want to push/pull a chariot or wagon all the way up there.
We got around this by just bringing water bottles in because we were only staying one night. The minimum stay though is usually two nights if you aren't a blogger doing a preview visit.
Also note that in winter you won't find any water on site and you should be prepared to bring it all in with you. Fortunately you could bring a sled when there's enough snow.
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| There was a water station here about half a kilometre from our yurt |
For cooking, each yurt comes with a propane two-burner stove but you'll have to bring your own propane canister with you. Cooking is also done outside (so you'll have to hope for nice weather.)
We chose not to cook at our yurt since we were only there one night. We hiked Subway sandwiches in for dinner and hiked out for breakfast.
If you're in one of the lower yurts you should have no problems carrying in food + propane. Just think "backcountry" when you plan your meals because there are no refrigerators. (not a problem in winter, but definitely a problem in summer.)
You can also cook over your fire pit if you want because they all have grates on them. I was wishing we'd brought hot dogs and marshmallows in with us. (Bring your own skewers for toasting wieners and marshmallows.)
Other than that, bring all of your own cooking supplies, dishes, and utensils in. You'll also have to handle the dishwashing situation somehow as well with your limited water - or just don't wash your dishes.
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| Each yurt comes with a propane stove and a fire pit for cooking |
Have other questions? Most of them can be answered here.
You can also discover more about Radius, the vision, the dream, and the gathering here.
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| The happiest of campers at Radius Yurt Retreat |
Disclaimer: Our stay at Radius was hosted for this review. We LOVED our stay and can't wait to go back for a winter visit next season.
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| Our yurt, the Perch, at Radius Retreat in Radium Hot Springs, BC |
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