Kamloops is a four-season destination with limitless outdoor recreation opportunities – including hiking, mountain biking, golfing, fishing, and downhill skiing and snowboarding – that take full advantage of the area's diverse geography of dry semi-arid grasslands and towering alpine mountains.
Kamloops' geographical diversity is matched only by its cultural diversity, proudly showcased at year-round theatrical and musical events, gallery exhibits, and annual festivals, such as the Kamloops Cowboy Festival and the Kamloopa Pow Wow.
The city's location in the Thompson Okanagan region – the wine-making hub of British Columbia – also means wine and food lovers are certainly not overlooked: Check out Canada's only ice-wine festival at Sun Peaks Resort.
Summer Activities
The same desert, grassland, alpine, and pine forest terrain that makes for amazing wilderness hiking and competition-level mountain biking, ensures an always challenging round of golf at any one of Kamloops' 13 courses, including Tobiano Golf Course, voted Canada's best new course in 2008 by Golf Digest and ScoreGolf Magazine (golf and travel packages are available through many hotels in the city.)
An equal challenge, this time aquatic, is found in Kamloops' many lakes and waterways. Fish for the fighting Kamloops trout at Roche Lake Provincial Park, or check out favourite spots of local anglers such as Nicola Lake and Chataway Lake Plateau. Summer activities are plenty at Wells Gray Provincial Park, home to Helmcken Falls and incredible canoeing, rafting, kayaking, and camping opportunities.
Winter Activities
Kamloopsians do winter in fine Tyrolean/European style at Sun Peaks Resort, which offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, dog-sledding, and ice-skating in addition to tri-mountain downhill skiing and snowboarding. Snowmobile enthusiasts can sled along groomed trails in and around Kamloops' designated open areas. When the winter weather is a bit of a damper (which is rarely) catch the Kamloops Blazers as they hit the ice at the 6,400-seat Interior Savings Centre, or even play tennis under the five-court dome at the Kamloops Tennis Association. Harper Mountain is a great family ski hill and Stake Lake offers world class cross-country skiing.
Arts and Culture
Kamloops' arts and culture scene encompasses music, live theatre, and the visual arts. The Kamloops Symphony and Western Canada Theatre share the Sagebrush Theatre, the city's primary large-audience venue. The Old Courthouse Cultural Centre is a historic brick building that houses two galleries and Bizarre Bazaar, a summer-long artists' market.
The Kamloops Art Gallery is the Thompson Okanagan's regional centre for visual arts, but only one of many galleries in the city. Music in the Park stages free concerts at Riverside Park on the Kamloops riverfront, where local and visiting musicians perform nightly in July and August. The Thompson Okanagan's wine culture is celebrated each year at Canada's only ice-wine festival at Sun Peaks Resort.
Heritage Homes Walking Tour
Take a self-guided walking tour of Kamloops' 30 historic homes and buildings – such as St. Andrew's on the Square and Stuart Wood Elementary School – located in the downtown core and indicated by bronze plaques featuring photographs and information. A free "Heritage Homes Walking Tour" brochure is available at the Kamloops Museum & Archives. Ask the friendly staff for advice on suggested routes.
Exploring Geology
Hike along Mara Mountain's intermediate-level trail, passing cactus, sagebrush, forests, and grasslands until reaching a close-up view of the hoodoos, towering sandstone spires shaped by thousands of years of erosion. Kamloops also abounds with fossils, gold, opal, agates, zeolites, and geodes that are easily found; local guides can assist in finding these geological keepsakes.
Driving Routes
Explore Kamloops' hiking, mountain biking, golfing, fishing, and downhill skiing and snowboarding opportunities along either the Ranchlands & Rivers, or Lakes & Trails Circle Route. Learn more about driving routes through Kamloops here: Driving Routes.
Where to Begin
Stop by the Kamloops Visitor Centre for more information on things to do in and around the city, sights to see, accommodation listings, dining out recommendations, maps, and more.
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