 Cycling in Kelowna, Tourism Kelowna photo water activities and beach-based family vacations on the shores of Okanagan Lake. It is a developed urban centre that has not sacrificed its casual charm. Visitors flock to Kelowna (and nearby West Kelowna and Lake Country) to taste local wines and locally-sourced cuisine, attend museums, galleries, symphonies, and theatre, and perhaps most of all to take advantage of endless outdoor recreation activities, such as hiking, golfing, fishing, boating, swimming and cycling in summer, and downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing in winter.
Four-Season RecreationCity life in Kelowna is definitely sophisticated, but there is no denying the lure of the great outdoors. Okanagan Lake forms the city's western boundary where sun-soakers lounge on beaches, while water dogs boat, swim, and fish. Beyond the agricultural band surrounding the urban centre, the terrain rises steeply to the Okanagan Highland. Forested in pine and fir, dotted with trout-filled lakes, criss-crossed with backcountry roads and trails (including the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) Trail), and buried in pristine champagne powder each winter, the Highland is ideal for hiking and cycling, and downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, dogsledding, and snowshoeing. Kelowna is also home to three provincial parks that offer amazing wildlife viewing, bird watching, and camping.
Food and Wine Agriculture, particularly fruit production, has always been a driving force in Kelowna's economy. Farms and orchards, including Kelowna Land & Orchard, Carmelis Goat Cheese Artisan, and Falcon Ridge Farms, outline the city, contributing to its burgeoning food culture. Today, local restaurants are often a Kelowna farmer's best customers. Accompanying this locally-sourced food revolution is Kelowna's longstanding and continually growing tradition of wine production. Wineries and vineyards set high above Okanagan Lake in Kelowna, along the slopes of Mount Boucherie, and in Lake Country are marked by distinct notes of sage, clover, honey, apple, pear, raspberry, and blackberry.
Diverse Urban Design Kelowna's Cultural District best exemplifies the new face of the city with restaurants, theatres, galleries, and a bevy of high-rise condos and lofts that display the simple, soaring lines of modern West Coast architecture. Yet the adjacent historic downtown core, anchored by Bernard Avenue, retains reminders of the city's past, with weathered brick storefronts and the sleek lines of the Streamline Moderne phase of the Art Deco movement. Older residential areas are also marked by examples of this unique style, although the predominant design is original Arts and Crafts. Radiating from the city core, bands of later styles mark Kelowna's growth.
Lake Country and West KelownaSome of the agricultural attractions and outdoor recreational activities that attract visitors are physically located in two adjacent communities. Lake Country, 29km/18mi north of Kelowna, occupies the ridges and narrow flat lands between Okanagan, Kalamalka and Wood Lakes. West Kelowna, the newest municipality in BC, is 13.6km/8.5mi from Kelowna on the western shore of Okanagan Lake.
Where to Start
Stop by the Kelowna Visitor Centre, 544 Harvey Ave. (Highway 97), where friendly staff can offer information on things to do in Kelowna, accommodation and dining recommendations, and much-have maps and brochures. For a great overview of Kelowna, head to the top of Knox Mountain. The lookouts in this nature preserve provide the best view of Okanagan Lake, the city, orchards, vineyards, highlands, and mountain peaks beyond.
For information on West Kelowna, the West Kelowna/Westbank Visitor Centre is located at #4 - 2375 Pamela Rd (along Highway 97). For information on Lake Country, the Lake Country Visitor Centre is located at #40 - 9522 Main St (lower level of Coopers Village Mall).
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