Creston Valley on the Selkirk Loop: Retrace Alice Ford's Road Trip

June is when the Creston Valley hits its stride. The orchards are leafing out along the benches above town, the wetland is loud with nesting birds, and the wineries are pouring again as the warm days settle in. It is the kind of slow, golden start to summer that travel host Alice Ford captured when she rolled into the valley on the latest season of her PBS show, Alice's Adventures on Earth. Her Creston Valley & Selkirk Loop road trip is now streaming, and it makes a perfect plan for your own summer visit.

This guide retraces the stops Alice made here, from the wetland she paddled into to the winery patio where she tried a local rosé. Everything below is genuinely in the Creston Valley, so you can follow her route and build a few easy days around it. We will also fill you in on what the Selkirk Loop actually is, in case you want to make the valley your home base for the whole drive.

What is the International Selkirk Loop?

The International Selkirk Loop is a 280-mile (450 km) scenic drive that circles the Selkirk Mountains across northern Idaho, northeast Washington, and southeast British Columbia. It is North America's only multinational scenic byway, and one of just 32 routes in the United States to carry the All-American Road designation. Most people give it three to seven days.

The Creston Valley sits on the Canadian leg of the loop, where Highway 3 runs right through the middle of the valley and the wetland. If you are driving the full circuit, you reach us by crossing Kootenay Lake on the Kootenay Lake ferry, the longest free ferry in North America. Plenty of travellers use Creston as their overnight base on this stretch, and it is an easy place to do it. You have local accommodations, a downtown full of restaurants, and orchards and tasting rooms within a short drive of each other.

A quick reminder if you are crossing the border on the loop: bring your passport.

Watch Alice's Creston Valley road trip

In the episode, Road Tripping the Selkirk Loop (Season 3, Episode 5), Alice drives north from Idaho into Canada and spends a good chunk of her Canadian stops right here in the valley. She wanders the wetland with the people who protect it, picks apples with a local food program, tastes wine at a family winery, and sits down to dinner and poutine in downtown Creston before catching the ferry north.

You can watch the full 27-minute episode on the PBS website or stream it free on the PBS App. It first aired on May 18, 2026, and is presented by KSPS PBS. Watch it for the scenery, then use this guide to do the trip yourself.

Follow Alice into the Creston Valley wetlands

1. Explore the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. This was Alice's first stop in the valley, and it is the one we would send anyone to first. The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is a 7,000-hectare (17,000-acre) wetland that stretches from the south end of Kootenay Lake to the U.S. border, home to more than 300 bird species. June lands right in nesting season, so the marshes are busy with waterfowl, herons, ospreys, and songbirds.

Start where Alice did, at the Kootenay-Columbia Discovery Centre at Corn Creek Marsh, just off Highway 3 at West Creston Road. It has hands-on exhibits to get the kids curious, including the snake skins Alice found memorably creepy. From there you can walk the flat-topped dyke trails and climb a viewing tower, or join one of the guided wetland walks and canoe tours the centre runs through the warmer months for a small fee. As Alice put it, wetlands are the kidneys of the natural world, and an hour out here is the easiest way to understand why they matter so much.

Taste the valley's farm food and drink

2. Pick fruit with Harvest Share. Alice spent an afternoon picking apples with the Harvest Share program, and it is one of the more meaningful things a visitor can do here. Run by the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition, Harvest Share is a volunteer-based U-pick that gathers extra fruit from local backyards and orchards between June and November. You keep a third of what you pick, the tree owner keeps a third, and the rest goes to food banks, the school, the women's shelter, and other local organizations.

Depending on the week, you might be picking cherries, apricots, plums, apples, or pears. The program is free, donations are welcome, and pre-registration is required, since harvests are scheduled around ripeness and weather. It is a hands-in-the-leaves way to meet locals and see Creston's farming side up close.

3. Browse the orchards and farm stands. The valley is stitched together with fruit stands and family farms, and June is when they start filling up for the season. Alice swung by Wloka Farms Fruit Stand in Erickson, the longtime stand run by Barb and Frank Wloka right along Highway 3. It is a good first stop, with local harvest, juices, and just about everything in between. From there you can keep stand-hopping the back roads through Erickson and Lister, where you will also find U-pick orchards, a local dairy, and the Creston Valley Farmers' Market once it gets rolling for the summer. Browse more on the farms and orchards page. Cherries usually peak around mid-July, so an early-summer visit catches the first of the season.

4. Sip local wine at Red Bird Estate Winery. Alice pulled up a chair at Red Bird Estate Winery, the small family winery run by Shannon and Rémi Cardinal, and started with their rosé. It is the kind of place where chickens wander the property and the people pouring your glass live in the house out back. The tasting room is open from the May long weekend through Thanksgiving, so summer is prime time to drop in and try the Gewürztraminer, the Pinot Gris, or one of their more playful small-batch experiments. Red Bird is one of several wineries clustered around Creston and Erickson, which makes for an easy afternoon of tasting close to town.

5. Eat dinner at Casey's Community House. Alice wrapped her valley evenings at Casey's Community House, a modern lounge restaurant set in the beautifully restored Kootenay Hotel building in downtown Creston. She tried the poutine, which is a good call. Casey's pours local wines and keeps a rotation of craft beers on tap, and it is a relaxed place to land after a day in the orchards. Hungry for other options? The full restaurants and dining lineup runs from Thai and Korean to farm-to-table.

Carry the loop a little further

Alice left the valley the way the Selkirk Loop intends, by catching the car ferry across Kootenay Lake toward Nelson. If you want to venture a little further on a day trip, the free ferry from Kootenay Bay is a scenic outing in itself, and the East Shore communities make a pretty drive. Set out in the morning and you can be back in the valley by evening, which keeps Creston as your home base for the night and lets you save the East Shore's beaches and galleries for a relaxed day away.

Before you go: June things to know

• Bears are active. The valley is bear country, especially around fruit trees and the wetland. Carry bear spray on trails, make noise, and never leave food or fallen fruit out. Gleaning programs like Harvest Share exist partly to keep fruit off the ground and bears out of yards.

• Watch for ticks. Late spring and early summer are tick season in the long grass. Wear long sleeves on grassy trails and check yourself afterward.

• Bring sun and bug protection. The wetland is gorgeous and buggy in equal measure. Pack mosquito repellent, a hat, sunscreen, and water for the open dyke trails.

• Seasons set the hours. Tasting rooms, the Discovery Centre's guided tours, and the farmers' market are seasonal. Check days and times before you go, and call ahead for farm stands.

• Register and plan ahead. Harvest Share requires pre-registration, and picks are scheduled around ripeness and weather, so flexibility helps.

• Crossing the border? If you are driving the full Selkirk Loop, keep your passport handy for the U.S. and Canada crossings.

The Creston Valley earns its place on the Selkirk Loop, and once you slow down here it is easy to see why Alice gave it so much screen time. Watch her episode on PBS for a taste, then come pick the fruit, paddle the wetland, and pour the wine yourself.

Plan your trip at https://explorecrestonvalley.com

The Creston Valley stretches from Yahk in the south to Riondel in the north, with the town of Creston at its heart. For trip planning, accommodation listings, and local events, plan your tip at Explore Creston.