(ocher beds)
Kootenay National Park is west of Banff NP on the eastern (i.e. wetter) side of the Continental Divide. It offers fabulous vistas and is a great park to drive through, especially popular with antique car owners in the summer. Situated in this huge park are a few acres where large amounts of pigmented material lie on the ground.
I discovered the Paint Pots while exploring trails in this area. There are three “pots”, formed by cold mineral springs with iron oxide rich soil surrounding them. As these deposits increase the rim becomes elevated — hence forming a “pot”. The water is a greenish to yellowish-red color.
(paint pots)
Downstream from the paint pots the pigment is deposited on the soil as ocher, one of the first pigments used by prehistoric man in the era of cave life. Native tribes traveled great distances to this spot to harvest ocher. The ocher was dried, ground to a powder, mixed with fish oil or animal grease, and used to decorate bodies, tipis, clothes, etc. The mining of the ocher continued when white settlers arrived, the ocher shipped to Calgary by rail where it was used to add color to paint.
The trail is an easy hike, about 1.3 miles total, and is easily accessible from the main highway through Kootenay Park.
