Camping at Oroville is part of our summer tradition and we have been doing it now for the past 7…read moreyears. We enjoy it for several reasons: 1. It has a nice sandy beach with shade options if you want to stay closer to the trees. 2. The water in the lake is warm, clean and shallow...you can walk out 300 meters. 3. There is plenty of long flat sections of grass for the kids to play around on. 4. There are washrooms with running water and hot showers. 5. They never seem to have a campfire ban. 6. We are in a tent and you set up on grass. 7. Prince's is a very short walk away and they have everything one needs in terms of food and drink (including alcoholic beverages). 8. Trino's is a short walk away...and would suggest walking if you are sampling their margarita's. This is an ideal car camping family campground and great for groups. It is not a private wilderness experience. There is a concession stand at the beach but unfortunately the person running it does not have the greatest interpersonal or customer service skills. She seems to spend her day sitting at a table out front speaking with friends and smoking. That and the lack of privacy at the sites drops my rating to a 3 star. My kids enjoy coming back camping to Oroville each year so I am happy to recommend camping here. TIP: There are not a lot of trees in the campground and with the intense summer sun, highly recommend purchasing a canopy for sun ( & possibly rain) protection.

I wouldn't say this campground is a typical Washington campground...take away the mountains and I…read moremight have thought I was in the midwest. We got there at 10:30pm after a 7 hour trek due to traffic and a detour from a bridge that was out (should have taken around 5 hours). Apparently, you are supposed to arrive by 10pm and we were scolded by the park ranger for being late. After repeatedly telling us it is now "quiet hours" and we have to be very quiet setting up with no banging or bright lights, we made our way to our tree-less campsite (okay, there was 1 tree). We got out of the car and were greeted by a live blues band booming from across the lake! So much for "quiet hours". We were laughing so hard. Not to mention, there was a rowdy bunch at a campfire across the way. We were very relieved and settled in at our fire with a cold beer. The lake is very beautiful and warm, but we weren't able to enjoy it because it was cold and rainy. This definitely put a damper on things...I probably would have given this place 3 stars if we had been able to bask in the sun all day on our tubes. I guess it's usually extremely hot there and it rarely rains, which is why I booked it, so we just got unlucky with a bad weather weekend. My boyfriend built us a pretty sweet rain shelter with a tarp and dead tree branches and the park ranger came by saying, "Well, that's pretty creative, but the wind is going to take it down". Awesome. Thanks for your optimism. The bathrooms and showers were clean, but you have to buy tokens to use the showers. 2 tokens for $1 gets you 6 minutes. It's a dog friendly place with lots of room for them to run around by the lake. I do have to say that this campground seems like a great family place. There were a ton of campers and kids. I don't think we'll go back before we have our own little tikes running around...and that's not for a while :) One more thing...the is a store called Prince's in walking distance and it has everything you could possibly need for camping!

Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park is a neat place to visit. When they had the huge fires in…read moreKelowna it ripped through this park. It has now been long enough that regrowth is in full swing. There are multiple lakes to check out along the trails here that are a nice break if you are hiking in the heat of the summer! There are lots of official trails and goat trails that you can explore and spend days here. Care has to be taken on the trails though when the wind picks up as there are a lot of unstable dead trees from the fires that could topple over and hurt you. There is a ton of wildlife here to experience as well. There are Mule and white tailed deer, mountain goats, black bears, chipmunks and rattle snakes to name a few. Always take care to watch your step in the heat of summer as a bite from a rattle snake can in rare cases lead to death but can really hurt and make it difficult to make it out of the bush. The park is pretty big with an area of 11,038 hectares protected. Hunting is allowed in the boarders of this park during hunting season so I would wear bright coloured clothing during that season for sure!

My kid and I visited Penticton recently and stayed at a hotel in close proximity to this…read morecentrally-located park on the waterfront, so we passed it and walked through it often. And it's one of the many, many reasons we fell in love with Penticton! This is a beautiful area of town, right on the water and adjacent to Okanagan Beach. There are two main attractions here, the two historic boats the S.S. Sicamous and the S.S. Naramata. The Sicamous is clearly the star of the show, as it is enormous and has been made into a museum. As I recall, admission was around $10/adult and $5/kid, with special pricing for families. The plaques posted in the area discuss the work needed to preserve and maintain these historic vessels. For more details about the boats' histories and the museum, you can check out their website: sssicamous.ca We loved how these stately vessels were such a source of pride in town, how there were many posted plaques about their history, and how the Naramata was illuminated at night. There are also various areas in this park designated for kids and families: there's an Adventureland-like area, with lots of inflatables and amusement park-like rides for very young children (this part of the park is called LocoLanding. I'm not sure what the admission charges are but you can check out their website at: loco landing.com). We were impressed that this park was open quite late. They had go-karts and mini-golf and a climbing wall and other such attractions. Adjacent to LocoLanding was a "youth park" and my kid and I were SO impressed with this large, modern skatepark. My kid said she would LOVE such a park in Vancouver, she'd be there all the time! (Note: my kid is 25 years old. Not technically a "youth", I suppose - but aren't we all youths at heart? I think we SHOULD be! But I digress....). Back to this large skatepark.....it is amazing. SO pristine and clean (hard to believe it's used by adolescents! But it sure was. There were pre-teens and teens there every time we walked by). Such an amazing park. It's free of charge to use it, too. And I was blown away by the "repair center" at the entrance, where there are installed stations where you can repair your bike, or your skateboard, with all the tools you'd need for various fix-ups. And a modern water station here, too. The whole set-up was really cool, and really well thought out. There's lots of free parking here in the lot (a rarity in most cities' central cores, by their main attractions), and a few picnic benches, too. Did I mention this park is right beside the main beach? Great way to spend a day in Penticton!

A nice clean and quiet park along the Penticton channel which flows into Okanagan Lake. There are…read morealso a few picnic tables and benches under several large trees which provides some terrific shade on a hot and sunny day. The main attraction is S.S. Sicamous which was the biggest passenger boat built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Beside the S.S Sicamous, there is another boat named the S.S. Naramata which is the only remaining steamboat in the Interior of B.C. There are activities which are perfect for the kids such as mini golf and bumper cars too. There is a large parking lot with free parking.

Right on the outskirts of town. Has swings/slides for the kids. Covered picnic area and clean…read morebathrooms. Across the street is the marshal waiting to pick you up.

One of the most beautiful and undiscovered locations in all of Washington. The forest roads are…read morenot paved but still fine to drive on. Plenty of places to take in the vistas and escape the bustle of city life. In the two days I was birding the forest trails in this forest I never ran into two people, on a popular hiking trail. Check the weather reports as freeze-out ridge gets very cold in fall, go figure, you could easily get stranded by a snow storm, and no one would find you. This is one of the only areas where the boreal forest extends down into WA from Canada so the wildlife, trees and feel of the place is very different then you might be used to. It is a great spot to tick off the Boreal birds in Washington state. There was a huge fire around here in the summer of 2006 and I haven't been back since so I don't know how bad the damage was.

Lakeside park and beach on the W shore of Okanagan Lake, a few clicks N of the Bennett Bridge…read more Parking is available in a couple of lots. I imagine the place can get pretty busy during the summer. There is a campground, as well as a picnic area and a small beach. Sand is a bit coarse, but it is great for chilling and looking across the lake.

Just arrived home from 3 fantastic nights at Bear Creek…read more It was a fantastic time. The site was clean and quiet. VERY child friendly. Our two boys had a blast riding their bikes and playing at the park. The park attendants were incredible. Friendly. Efficient. The park is quiet and clean. Can't wait to go back next year.

Such an interesting story, this is a true gem for BC, Canada and the world. The interconnectedness…read moreof this ecosystem is mind boggling, and the creatures although extremely shy, are incredible! A great place to support, and a great place to learn. Yes, get the tour. I suppose you could call ahead - but the tour times are also posted on their website. Also, they hold an annual fundraising event, "Romancing the Desert" in August on a Saturday night on or around a full moon. Moon rise, hot summer night, local wineries pouring tastings, local restaurants serving up great food, live music - highly, highly recommend it - what an awesome night and such a good cause! The next one is August 2014! Great for singles, couples or groups - everyone is really friendly and you will have a great time.

Took my husband here and he loved it, I came here a bunch of times as a kid and loved it. Gives…read morelots of information on the ecosystem and the desert all around. We managed to grab the guided tour and learnt lots of great information. Also a great deal for $8 a ticket.

Lots of trails and great viewpoints with fun structures that block the trail. There's mountain…read morebiking paths along the way and I'd recommend sticking to the main path as the biking paths tend to get slippery downhill. We did Knox Mountain via Apex trail and then headed to Paul's tomb through the Ogopogo trail. Paul's tomb was beautiful and I wish I wore my swimsuit so I could dip in. There's no washroom facilities at Paul's tomb and a porta-potty down the trail.

Blast your A/C or open your windows because you'll need it when you drive up this mountain park in…read morethe summer. I didn't see any locals or tourist walking up Knox Mountain because the road going up is very narrow, so please drive slow and carefully. Once you're on the top, you will see a great view of downtown Kelowna and Lake Okanagan. I saw a few deers too. Other than that, this park is only for the view!

Came here with the family because we heard about the history and to see the trestles and tunnels…read more It did not disappoint. We went just passed the 2km mark from the Myra parking lot which is after the first tunnel. All in it was 5km round trip for us. At the parking lot you can rent bikes and there is also washrooms. The paths and trestles are wide enough for hikers and bikes. We definitely will come here again - maybe go a bit farther.

One of the highlights from our visit to the Kelowna area In June 2022. First, a mention of the 8 km…read moregravel road to get up to the Myra Canyon parking lot. We were able to drive up with our rental Toyota Corolla, but we did take it quite slowly as there were many potholes. The road was wide enough for 2 cars to pass along most of the route. Just before the parking lot, there were bike rentals/reservations recommended -- but we were planning to walk. Parking lot is quite large, but was close to full when we arrived around 11 am. The trail is well-maintained, wide, and is used by walkers and bikers. On our day there, the bikers included young children, couples on mountain bikes, adults on eBikes, and bikers participating in a bike race. Sharing the trail with the latter was unfortunate because they zoomed past us at high rates of speed and didn't observe the guidance that they needed to yield to walkers on the trestles (bridges). We walked a few hundred meters past the 4 km marker, at which point we turned back upon reaching a sizable puddle (and recognizing that we had to walk back!). Our total walk was 8 km plus (or exactly 6 miles). We walked over 11 trestles, numbered 18 to 8, and through two tunnels. Views of the canyon, and of Okanagan Lake in the distance, were beautiful. There were regular benches to stop to enjoy the views. There was a shelter, with a long bench at the 2.9 km mark. Pit toilets are at the parking lot and at the 4.0 km mark. There are also 3 picnic tables, with aggressive chipmunks, near 4.0.