Hmmm. Not sure how to rate a ferry. Is the line short? Yes. Is the ferry ride smooth? Yes. Are the workers friendly? Yes. Is the scenery beautiful? Yes. Five stars!
Really, there's nothing to complain about here. You drive a scenic back country road (Highway 6) toward Nelson, past lovely scenery until it dead ends at the ferry dock.
There's no terminal, just one lane with a flashing light that tells you to stop until the stop bar that "blocks" the lane raises to let you through. This happens after the ferry has docked and the ferry workers have done some sort of safety check.
Pro tip: even if the ferry is docked, don't assume that it's okay to bypass the arm that's blocking the lane. Wait until the crew is done doing what they need to do and for the arm to raise. Otherwise they will wave frantically at you to stop where you are until they are ready for you to embark!
It's a small ferry that is pulled by a cable from one side of the lake to another. It fits about a dozen cars, if that, and it takes five minutes to cross the lake. On one side you'll find an info board about the ospreys that inhabit the area.
There is no cost for this ferry (thank you, Canada!). I'm not sure if walk-ons or bicycle riders are okay since I didn't see any, but I can't see why not. On a Sunday night around 7:45 it took us about 20-30 minutes to cross, which included waiting for the ferry to cross from the other side and cars to disembark, and loading and unloading on the other side. The evening view of the Kootenay Rockies flanking a sliver of lake was peaceful and amazing, even if it only lasted for five minutes! read more