The Okanagan Valley is famous for its wonderful summer weather. The valley which is located in southern British Columbia is comprised of Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and Osoyoos. Its major tourist destination – other than the numerous orchards and wineries, is the Okanagan Lake.
The Okanagan Lake offers wonderful sandy beaches and the lovely lake stretches along the valley, making it an important and much visited venue. Coming to the valley will not be complete if one doesn’t visit one of the many Provincial Parks and campgrounds.
Here are some of the well known BC Provincial Parks which also have campsites.
Kekuli Bay
Located off of Highway 97, Kekuli Bay is about 11km South of Vernon. This bay is situated on the Westside of Kalamalka Lake in Northern Okanagan.
According to the BC Parks () website, Kekuli refers to the semi-subterranean houses built and inhabited by the Interior Salish Natives.
This is a new campground which is 5.7 hectare in total consists of 70 campsites which are easily accessible by big RVs. The Kalamalka Lake contours the campsite is excellent for water activities such as canoeing, kayaking, boating and is famous for fishing. It also has one the best, well known boat launches in Kalamalka Lake.
The new campground has paved road running through it with well maintained gravel trail walks that stretches for about 2.6 kilometres around the campground.
The campground is clean with hot showers, fire pits, picnic tables and well maintained landscape.
Bear Creek
Located off the Central Okanagan on the Westside of Okanagan Lake, Bear Creek stretches about 178 hectare and its easily accessible from the highway and downtown Kelowna.
This campground, with a combination of both sandy beaches and rocky canyons. The campsite has 122 units which are all accessible through paved roads. Behind the campsite is a 23km trail walk and about 10km of easy-hiking trail.
From the campsite, there’s a great view of the lake and the canyon. Summer visitors have a wide range of water activities to enjoy and kayak and peddle boats are also available for rental.
Fintry Provincial Park
360 hectares of former Fintry Estate is a part of this unique provincial park with two different topographical areas. The 2km waterfront of Fintry is surrounded by mountains and deep canyons. The uniqueness of this park lies in the series of waterfalls and deep pools that form on the deep canyon. These waterfalls and pools are a result of the Short Creek that flows through this canyon.
This park is equipped with camping facilities and water activities such as swimming, fishing, canoeing and kayaking are popular during the summer. There’re also trail walks and wildlife viewing in the surrounding area. For wildlife viewing, one has to hike the canyon trails. Among the animals spotted here often are variety of birds, mammals, deer and bighorn sheep. The bighorn sheep is protected in this area by the Fintry Protection Area programme which was established on 18th April 2001.
As for the campground in Fintry, although is easily accessible, it doesn’t offer full service like water, electricity and security. The nearest sani-station for campers is located at Bear Creek Provincial Park.
Provincial Park, Okanagan Lake North
This 98 hectares park is part of Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park which is easily accessible by boat or by driving though Kelowna. The sandy, pebbly beaches of this park is perfect for daily picnicking and water activities. Boating and sailing is common here as are pedal boats, windsurfing and houseboats. Fishing is also a prominent activity here and popular fishes include rainbow trout and kokanee.
There are approximately 80 campsites on this park and a 1km trail that connects Okanagan Lake North to Okanagan Lake South.
Okanagan Lake South
This park has about 81 easily accessible campsites which are located closer to the lake. It’s complete with sani-stations, picnic areas, children’s playgrounds, a boat launch and fire-pits.
The Okanagan valley offers so much for visitors and residence alike. And the blended aroma of summer berries, luscious wines, fresh lake and rustic burnt firewood is just half of it.
Punitha Muniandy - "Writing is a deeply immersive experience. When the words are flying, the house could be burgled and I wouldn't notice." William ...
