Kelowna spreads along the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake, a long, narrow lake in a dry valley of southern British Columbia, and the sun is its great asset. The Okanagan is Canada's fruit and wine country, with orchards of apples, cherries, peaches and apricots, and vineyards stretching along the hillsides above the water. The name comes from a Syilx word for grizzly bear, and the Syilx people have lived here for thousands of years.
The city is a big, bright, fast-growing place of about a hundred and twenty thousand people, with a lakeside park, a long beach and a boardwalk. The floating bridge across the lake, one of the longest in Canada, is a landmark, and the lake is said by some to hold a monster, Ogopogo, the Okanagan's own version of Nessie. The town also marks the site of an early mission: in 1859 Father Charles Pandosy and the Oblates founded one of the first European settlements in the valley, and the mission buildings are preserved. Wineries, many with tasting rooms, cluster on the hills.
For riders, the valley roads are the draw. Highway 97 runs south along the lake through Peachland and Summerland toward Penticton, with views of blue water and dry brown hills, and the roads above the lake, through vineyards and orchards, are quieter. The surface is generally good, and the curves are gentle, but summer traffic can be heavy, especially with tourists and tractors. The desert climate, among the warmest in Canada, brings hot summers, and mornings are the best time.
Kelowna has everything: fuel, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and bike shops. West Kelowna, across the bridge, has more wineries. The best months are May, when the blossoms open, and September, when the grapes are harvested and the heat has eased. July and August are hot and busy, and wildfire smoke has been a problem in recent summers, so check conditions. In winter, snow comes to the hills, but the valley bottom is mild, and the lake rarely freezes.