Sitting between the Monashee and Selkirk mountains, Revelstoke started life in the 1880s as a Canadian Pacific Railway town. These days it's better known as a basecamp for outdoor types — and one of its strangest winter attractions is that its best-known waterfalls simply stop moving and turn to ice.

The falls are the headline act. Sutherland Falls, Begbie Falls and Bear Creek Falls in Glacier National Park all freeze over as temperatures drop. That gives you two very different experiences from the same trails: in autumn, hikes through pine and hemlock forest lead you to water still thundering down; come deep winter, you can snowshoe in to see the same cascades locked mid-flow. Glacier National Park's short and day hikes are easy to reach, with most trailheads accessible from the Trans-Canada Highway, the Illecillewaet Valley trailhead or the Illecillewaet Campground parking lot. Hikers can also follow a stretch of the abandoned Canadian Pacific Railway line that once carried passengers coast to coast through the Selkirks.

When you've had your fill of ice and snow, the town itself punches well above its size. Revelstoke's historic downtown is a walkable grid of specialty shops, locally owned restaurants, cafes, bars and distilleries. Since 2019 it has also doubled as an open-air art gallery, with new murals and installations added each year around the Luna Art Festival — the colourful pieces light up streets and alleyways after dark.

If your dates are flexible, the town's three-day Winter Carnival takes over Centennial Park with live music, art and carnival games; 2026 details are still to come, but it's a good excuse to time a trip.

Getting there is straightforward if long: about six and a half hours by car from Vancouver via the Trans-Canada Highway and BC-5 N. For anyone already road-tripping the Rockies or heading to B.C. for ski season, Revelstoke slots neatly into the itinerary — whether you come for powder on the slopes, frozen falls on snowshoes, or just a small town with surprisingly good food and street art.