Penticton residents were heading out early Thursday morning and were stunned when they came across a momma bear and her three cubs.

Janette Watson caught a video of the bear in the road and the family scampering up the tree as her group drove by.

"When we were coming out of the driveway, I heard some rustling in the bushes and I turned around and there was a momma and three babies. So we jumped in the van and then we started to drive away, which is when I started to videotape it," she said.

"Oh, my god. It was amazing. It really was. We weren't even scared. It was just so cool because the babies are so cute. And the way they climbed up that tree was amazing."

Watson said there have been a lot of bears that come in the yard at night that they hear, but they haven't actually seen any.

The group was driving on Shingle Creek Road on the Penticton Indian Band land that morning.

"Mom was pretty good. She was protecting her babies. But she wasn't really scared it looked like or not angry or anything," Watson said, adding she nudged her little ones up the tree as they kept their distance and passed by.

With the bear season in full swing, the BC Conservation Officer Service continues to remind the public to look after their garbage and attractants around their property.