Welcome to Crawford Bay on beautiful Kootenay Lake BC, between Nelson and Creston. You can either park beside the Crawford Bay Transfer Station and walk the 2km to the trailhead, if you are not familiar with the conditions of forest service roads, or drive to the Trailhead located at 2 km mark on Crawford Creek Road, right before Orebin Creek . 49.713076,-116.760582. Climb up the small sidehill to begin the trail. The trail is well marked and a moderate hike down and up the steep canyon. A good pair of hikers and a pole is handy. In 1948, Charles Neide, working as a surveyor in the area, first located the spring. He decided to develop the spring for everyone's enjoyment. The pool was purched 10 feet above Crawford Creek and was built using 2,000 lbs of cement (40 bags), stones, sand and clay from the Creek below. In the 50s, the hot springs were partially destroyed by a landslide. The cause was attributed to hundreds of litres hot water per minute eroded the hillside above. In the 1960s, 2 local prospectors and outlaws noticed the spring and rebuilt it. They added modifications to utilize the 32°C spring water for a more ingenious use ... creating moonshine. They set up a still with hundreds of feet of copper pipe coiled inside barrels. This helped speed up the fermentation process. Unfortunately, the steep and treacherous climb down and back up with the moonshine quickly rendered the site too difficult. Abandoned again but rediscovered by naturists who resurrected the old pool which feeds into Crawford Creek just yards away. Enjoy the area as the access and trail have been improved and a super beautiful and private area beside the creek features huge boulders which are used for tanning and admiring the rugged and isolated beauty of the area. Several great plung pools will help cool you off in the creek.