TRAIL VIEWS Kootenay and Yoho (the latter pictured here) National Parks are now online as part of the Google Earth application. Image submitted
Pioneer Staff
The next closest thing to being on the trail has been kicked up a notch as a virtual walk-through of some of Kootenay Nation Parks trails is now available on Googles Street View feature.
During a cross-Canada tour earlier this year, a team from Google Inc. made stops at many National Parks and National Historic Sites to enrich the content on their Google Earth application.
We were able to capture Redstreak campground, the Redstreak Restoration Loop, Redstreak trail, and the Juniper trail, said Amy Krause, web and new media officer for Yoho and Kootenay National Parks. We had a really nice day which made for totally fantastic images.
When Google came to the park, the team came equipped with big, heavy backpacks with a large globe embedded with several cameras, which extended over the head of the operator. Ms. Krauses role was to build an
itinerary to help them navigate the parks at optimum times of day for filming. She also ensured the preservation of the parks cultural and natural elements during their project, which she said never caused an issue.
To take a virtual tour of the trails to see what Google recorded, visit www.maps.google.ca and drag
Radium Hot Springs just west of your view Kootenay National Park is highlighted in green. From there, an orange pegman can be dragged from the bottom of the window overtop of the trail locations, situated at the south end of the park.
Ms. Krauses favourite virtual trail is the Redstreak Restoration Loop.
The sky on that day was
amazing, she said. It was a beautiful blue-sky day, gorgeous grasslands, these big, towering, solo pines, and this fantastic sky, with really high clouds that were coming overhead that day.
And, at the top of the Juniper Trail, the online experience showcases the Columbia Valley and Sinclair Canyon. Because the entire park was not surveyed, Ms. Krause is interested to see more campgrounds included in the Street View feature, allowing campers to see their site before they book it online. The trail feature is another off-road feature of the Google Maps Street View feature, which expanded earlier in 2013 with the addition of ski hill tours at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort and Panorama Mountain Village.
