I usually visit the Okanagan a few times each summer and bike the Myra Canyon trestles and tunnels of the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) but I’ve never strayed from the Kelowna portion until a recent visit to Summerland. A portion of the KVR connects the city of Penticton to Naramata along the valley benches overlooking Okanagan Lake.
We set out early on a Sunday morning, out the door by 7am to start the ride before the heat of the Okanagan sun took effect, not to mention I love early summer mornings in the Okanagan. It was a little confusing trying to find the best place to start the trail, as it goes through Penticton and our guide book wasn’t clear about exactly where the entrances/parking were, but alas it could have been simply that we were still waking up and not fully coherent. We eventually found a road sign and parked on a residential road.
The scenery was spectacular! A calm, deep blue lake, the blue enhanced by the brown of the clay cliffs and vibrant greens of the vineyards and orchards, then there is the native flora, the sage, rabbit brush and gold grasses. Rather than try to describe the view I have attached pictures. The trail was quite quiet at that time of day, but we did see a number of super fit people out running, likely training for the upcoming Ironman in Penticton.
The grade from Penticton to Naramata is 1.9% so it was a gentle, steady workout but most of the trail is smooth and wide in true KVR style, with the exception of a couple of areas with sand patches and bumpy rocks. Some sections are open to motorized vehicles (not sure why they allow this as it creates loads of dust) but we only encountered one on the trail so it wasn’t bothersome.
I especially enjoyed the varied surroundings, from wineries and peach trees to the South Okanagan native vegetation like ponderosa pines; we even spotted some prickly pear cactus. One way to Naramata is approximately 12km. Returning was easy as it was all downhill so hardly any peddling was required. When we arrived at Smethurst Rd, which one can follow into the village of Naramata, we had to turn around to make it back to Summerland in time to join a boating group. I can't wait to check out the next part of the trail and maybe camp some of it.
