'Grand Kelowna Triangle' is the grandest trail in the Okanagan

Photo: J.P. Squire

The City of Kelowna has a plethura of waterfront parks, many of which can be explored via the Grand Kelowna Triangle. One of the most popular is Boyce-Gyro Park on Lakeshore Road, known by most people as simply Gyro Park.

This column marks the start of a series about “introductory” trails to answer the proverbial question to the Sheriff: Where are the best places in the Southern Interior to hike, bike, kayak and horseback ride?

The Sheriff, often humourously, asks complete strangers he encounters on a trail: "Do you need someone to tell you where to go?" Invariably, they laugh and respond: "No!" or "I have friends who do that!"

With that in mind, here is the Sheriff's pick for the best Okanagan trail route: the “Grand Kelowna Triangle,” which combines the Kelowna waterfront, Mission Creek Greenway and Okanagan Rail Trail.

That funny question to strangers reveals the Sheriff's love of double entendres (a word or phrase open to two interpretations). So the Grand Kelowna Triangle nickname was chosen because it is indeed a “grand” route and it goes past The Delta Grand Okanagan Resort.

You can start anywhere on the triangle but the best place is Mission Creek Regional Park on Springfield Road. First, because it has free parking (compared to downtown, for example) and lots of it and second because you are heading downhill (or downstream) to Truswell Road at Lakeshore Road (small parking lot).

Then head north along the west side of Lakeshore Road but, rather than stay on its multi-use path, cut through Boyce-Gyro Park and pause there, or at the numerous other waterfront parks, for a snack or a picnic.

Take Watt Road, Walnut Street and Meikle Avenue to the city's new fast-tracked bike lane (from the new Pandosy Waterfront Park to KGH), then along the Abbott Street Recreation Corridor.

Ignoring the confusing signs (which way is City Park?) at Lake Avenue, turn left and go through the tunnel (making noise for the great echoes) under Harvey Avenue to the new City Park Promenade over to Waterfront Park, Rotary Marsh Park and through Sunset Drive Park to the Okanagan Rail Trail (ORT).

One alternative to this ORT section is the multi-use path on Cawston Avenue from Water Street (via the boat launch parking lot) to Pheasant Street to the ORT (still called by the city by its pre-ORT name, Rails with Trails).

Photo: J.P. Squire

This Aug. 27, 2012 map formerly posted on the City of Kelowna website, Future Loop Route - 1 Kilometer Buffer, was the inspiration for the Grand Kelowna Triangle route. The map was apparently designed to show how many people living within one kilometre - 36,787 in 35.5 square kilometres - would use such a 20.6-kilometre trail. When the city website was upgraded and improved several years ago, it disappeared.

The ORT will take you past the city works yard to a short jog to the right to Dilworth Drive. The city is now constructing a new multi-use path on Leckie Road, with the intention of taking trail users past the Canadian Tire store over to Mission Creek Regional Park by the end of summer.

In the meantime, using the utmost caution (sidewalk or bike path), take ultra-busy Dilworth Drive to busy, busy Springfield Road and then Springfield Road to Mission Creek Regional Park. Walk your bike if you find all that traffic intimidating.

Many years ago, the Sheriff found the accompanying overview map of Aug. 27, 2012 on the City of Kelowna website. Future Loop Route—one Kilometre buffer—was apparently designed to show how many people living within one kilometre(36,787 in 35.5 square kilometres) would use such a 20.6-kilometre trail. When the city website was upgraded and improved several years ago, it disappeared.

That map, which inspired the Grand Kelowna Triangle, lacks the Truswell Road parking lot and Lakeshore multi-use path (MUP) but does show the Cawston MUP and Rails with Trails Phase 2, which became the ORT.

It almost goes without saying the Grand Kelowna Triangle includes all of the major Kelowna trail attractions, its numerous, beautiful waterfront parks, the Abbott Street heritage area, one of the oldest and most popular green spaces of City Park, the newer, distinctive Waterfront Park and the wild beauty of Rotary Marsh Park with its elevated osprey nest and waterfowl.

What many users might not consider is the extensive history of each of the three legs. The downtown waterfront is the oldest part of the city, and was formerly the home of lumber mills and fruit warehouses.

Mission Creek’s original pioneer name was L’Anse-au-Sable, French for Sandy Cove. In 1860, the name was changed to Mission Creek in honour of the Catholic Oblate Mission established by Father Pandosy. In recognition of its historical importance, Mission Creek was designated a B.C. Heritage River by the province in 1996.

Okanagan First Nations’ people were hunters and gatherers who travelled seasonally throughout a vast territory, including areas around Mission Creek. These first inhabitants harvested kokanee and wildlife from the lower reaches and the adjacent riparian zone. They also made use of various plants found along the creek for food, building materials and medicines. As a result, many archeological sites remain along the creek today.

Mission Creek flooded annually during early settlement. In 1948, for example, Mission Creek floodwaters washed away the bridge just downstream from Gallagher’s Canyon. Sadly, few historical records of the post-World War II diking work remain, but in the early 1990s, building on renewed interest in Mission Creek and its social, cultural, environmental and economic attributes, a local advocacy group called the Friends of Mission Creek kick-started Mission Creek Greenway in partnership with the Regional District of Central Okanagan, City of Kelowna, Central Okanagan Land Trust and Westbank First Nation.

The railway first came to Kelowna from Kamloops in 1925, following six years of construction by Canadian National Railway. Kelowna Pacific Railway (Knighthawk Rail) leased the line from Jan. 30, 2000 to July 5, 2013 when the company went into receivership. The 49-kilometre line from Coldstream to Kelowna was purchased on June 1, 2015 for $22 million through a cooperative agreement by local governments. The ORT Initiative then raised $7.8 million to build it and the ORT officially opened on Sept. 27, 2018.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.