Cave and Basin, the lowest of nine sulphurous hot springs in Banff, is the site of the birthplace of Canada’s national parks. Walking into the building built around the reserve, the smell of rotten eggs (ahem… sulphur) makes its presence known. The tunnel to the hot springs was originally built in 1886, and is still used to this day to take tourists from the visitor center to see the grotto. Water in the grotto is heated geothermally from about two miles below.
