Nelson is a small town of about 10,000 residents in southeastern British Columbia, a bit northwest of the Washington and Idaho border. Despite its fairly small size and remote location, the town still has a hidden beach that is frequented by nudists. Informally known as "Painted Rock Beach," this site is on the south/east bank of the West Arm of Kootenay Lake, just a short drive from town. Crowds of nude bathers are small.

Painted Rock is set amid spectacular scenery. Nudists here have views of tree-covered mountains across the lake. Nudity seems to occur at this secluded beach without incident. The only potential problem is access. A 10-minute walk alongside railroad tracks is required to reach the beach (use caution), and railroad authorities may reprimand those caught along the tracks.

(Note: Although nude bathing also used to occur at Red Sands Beach, which you'll pass en route to Painted Rock—it's a kilometer from the start of Bealby Point Road—access to this beach is now prohibited, with "no parking" and "no trespassing" signs. We don't know the reasons why it was closed, but it was probably just a little too easily accessible to be a viable nude beach.)

VISUAL RESOURCES

GPS: 49.5310, -117.2493

city, district, province, country  Nelson, Central Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada

classification  2 (traditionally nude)

There are 4 placemarks related to this site.