Kelowna Walk

Date of Walk: July 23, 2003

Length: 1 mile each way
Time to Walk: 25 minutes each way
Type of Walk: Casino, Scenic, Nature Reserve, Beach
Location: BC Interior
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How To Get There / Parking
Kelowna is located in BC's beautiful Okanagan, famous for its warm dry weather. It is a three to four hour drive up the Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) from Vancouver. The walk starts across from Kelowna's Skyreach Arena at 1223 Water Street, near Cawston Avenue. It is hard to miss the start of the walk, just look for the large dolphins fountain. There is reasonably priced meter parking on Water Street.

Let's Go!
We walked toward the water past the dolphins fountain at Rhapsody Plaza. We were impressed by the fancy condominiums with fancy canals that let the owners dock their boats right at their residences.

When we got to the beach, we turned right to the Brandt's Creek Estuary Restoration Project. This is a haven for wild birds like the osprey shown below, guarding its nest.

We looped through the Estuary and headed back to the beaches along the waterfront. Waterfront park wraps around the beach in a lovely greenspace.

We left Waterfront Park and passed the Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort and Conference Centre, an exclusive Kelowna resort. We continued on past boat slips, where David took a picture, until we came to the Fintry Queen. The Fintry Queen is a paddlewheeler available for tours and dinner cruises.

We entered City Park, with the famous statues of the legendary lake monster Ogopogo and the Sails. Bill posed for his picture at the City Park sign.

City Park has gardens, a water and skateboard park for the kids, and a totem pole.

We left City Park and doubled back on Water Street to the Lake City Casino, located at the Grand Hotel. After a drubbing at the gaming tables, we drowned our sorrows at the nearby pub, Doc Willoughby's on Bernard Avenue between Pandosy and Water.