this is a post i’ve been wanting to do for awhile but dragging my heels on for all sorts of procrastination reasons. thank you to the friends that are planning fun trips this summer and asked for beta! it’ll be fun reliving a great trip!
i’m sure there will be plenty of side notes along the way, but here’s my first: we crammed 7 stops and 2000+ miles into two weeks. i would happily do this exact same trip adding an additional day/stop (a week total). it would make exploring these great places a little less frantic and there is certainly enough to do at each stop for two fun-filled days. ok, diving right in…
hood river to kelowna
this is the big push. i can imagine breaking this up, but we only had two weeks and a lot of exploring to do so we did massive drives on either end of the trip vs two shorter days.
the original plan was to stop somewhere south of kelowna – i think i targeted peachland originally – but august is high tourist season in the okanagan and most of the rv parks i called in june laughed at me when i asked about reservations for mid-week august. i should caveat that my mom and her husband were on this adventure with us – following in their rv, so stopping off on the side of the road or in a parking lot was not an option for us. our criteria throughout was hookups of some variety, preferably the trifecta of sewer/water/electricity. in hindsight, with grandparents and kids along, this was definitely the right call.
we weren’t able to get two consecutive nights anywhere in kelowna, so our stay there got split up into two locations. our first stop was apple valley orchard and rv park. very cute with a play structure (yay!), lots of green grass to play in (double yay!) and fruit trees but a little far for us to bike anywhere (i didn’t bring the chariot on this trip, so jackson – 3 yrs old – needed to be able to bike or walk anywhere we weren’t driving).
our second night was at kelowna urban farm and rv park. while the rv parking is tight, the owner – tyler – has done an excellent job of making everything clean, top notch and with the privacy screens, you really don’t notice how close you are to the other rvs! this is where i would go back to: it sits in the middle of a farm (tyler’s parents own the farm and he leases the rv land from them), it’s right on the mission creek greenway – a bike/walk trail that leads to downtown – and is on the way to the myra canyon trestles.
our big adventure for kelowna was the myra canyon trestles. we were there at the height of the bc forest fire season, so the views were certainly impeded, but you could see how spectacular they would be without the fire haze. the drive up the trestles is a little nuts – especially in an rv – but well worth it! easy enough for a 3 yr old to ride (i think he did 12km total?), the trail is accessible for all bikers and the history and trestles are fascinating!
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the morning we were set to move on, we did a couple of hours on the mission creek greenway. it taps into urban areas but the trail itself is lush and green and we found a few lovely spots to stop and play on the way!
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kelowna to sun peaks
kelowna had quite a bit of smoke, but journeying to kamloops felt like heading into the belly of the beast. we were SO close to cancelling our sun peaks stop when we got to kamloops and the air conditions were miserable but we talked with some locals while we filled up with gas and it sounded like sun peaks was above the smoke, so we pressed on and were so glad we did!
the drive to sun peaks is long and windy – especially in an rv – but it is so beautiful! dry camping in the sun peaks parking lot is allowed but for a variety of reasons, we rented a hotel for our stay there.
because sun peaks in a destination resort, the village is pretty much where all the action is and feels much like a mini version of whistler. that said, when we were there, it was very very quiet. i’m not sure if that was typical or due to the fires.
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we found a fun little trail about a quarter/half mile down the road from the village that went around the golf course and was a fun place to explore and warm up for a little hike. the xc network expands out from here – something we’ll shoot for next time.
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the wild flowers at sun peaks were unreal. fields and fields and amazing colors that made you feel like you were in a fairy land. we took the kids for a hike and then i got a chance to go back up with my bike and ride altitude xc – the trail that circumnavigates the top of the mountain. once you got just a little ways down the trail, the hikers dropped off and it truly was like riding through some magical place.
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there is a mountain biking park at sun peaks, which i accidentally stumbled into on my way down from my ride. definitely “big girl” trails. i had planned on taking rosie up for a cruise down one of the green trails, but even those were mildly terrifying on my xc bike. one for the downhill bikes for sure.
sidenote: i checked out the winter map for sun peaks and it looks like one you could ski for a week never hitting the same trail twice. definitely one to check out in a coming winter.
sun peaks to revelstoke
oh, revelstoke. what’s not to love? you have to start with the modern – a bakery so good it’s a reason to visit revelstoke in itself.
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we stayed at the revelstoke campground – a nice campground with some fun amenities like a pool (which meant lots of other families and kids) but enough out of town that it warrants a drive. this isn’t that big of a deal since downtown, the resort and the primary trail system are separate enough that, if you’re doing multiple missions, you’ll likely be driving anyhow.
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revelstoke resort was one of the few places that hasn’t jumped on the dh mountain biking craze and, instead of having a bike park, has a pipe coaster at the resort in addition to lift access hiking. both the coaster and the mini hikes (there is a trail that basically follows the lift line if you need a challenge!) were huge hits for our crew – and the popsicles at the bottom were pretty perfect too.
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for kids, it’s hard to beat the beaver lodge bike park. i had a hard time finding any info about this place outside of a couple obscure references but i’m so glad we took the time to search for it. the super fun obstacles and courses combined to learning of local floral and fauna was definitely something to be modeled!
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the mt macpherson system is a can’t miss. everything from rooty and technical to slabs to smooth and flowy in one ride. i started off at griffith creek lower parking (with my 31″ rv) and worked my way through the trails to the flowdown trail head – lucking out with a very kind shuttle as it was 100+ degrees and that road ride back was going to be a scorcher. i can’t wait to get back to revelstoke (frisby!) for a greater amount of big girl biking.
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on our way out of town, we lucked into the farmer’s market. such amazing bc produce, it’s worth trying to work your schedule to be there on a saturday am!
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revelstoke to golden
kicking horse was my first experience with non-whistler canadian skiing and will always hold a special place in my heart. i was so excited to get up to the top and see the views while drinking an ice wine martini at the eagles nest.
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we happened to be there during a meteor shower and they were having a big event including a massive buffet and late night viewing from the eagles nest. naturally, we bought tickets!
there are hiking trails from the top of kicking horse to the base but after checking them out, we decided the were a little much for the kids – steep with a lot of scree. there were a couple of trails that accessed the ridge next to the eagles nest and we went to check those out, admiring some of our first non-smoke filled views.
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a big attraction at the kicking horse resort is boo the grizzly bear and his sanctuary. kicking horse has long been sensitive to their proximity to grizzly habitat and their education structure they have set up during the summer is really fun.
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i was disappointed to find our rv park, golden eco adventure ranch, was quite aways out of town. it was nice and roomy but a little bit of a haul into town and the resort. so i was surprised when i saw a group of riders biking into the rv park – a quick interview and glance at a map showed the rv park was in a perfect place! just on the opposite end of the moonraker trail system as the primary trailhead! i could go on and on about the xc trail system – it was like someone was a mile ahead of me clearing off traffic (i saw maybe 2 people in a 2 hr ride?) and grooming the trails – fast and flowy fun the whole way! add this to the list of “place to come back to with more than a day”.
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one kid friendly activity that we didn’t get to (cause boo was awesome!) was the bike trail that goes around the town of golden. we checked out a quick section of it on our way out of town – one more reason to go back!
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