The hottest summers in Canada happen in this little corner of British Columbia, where the Okanagan Valley reaches the US border. Osoyoos sits on a narrow neck of land almost cutting Osoyoos Lake in two, and the lake is often described as the warmest in the country. Around it, the hills are covered in sagebrush, antelope-brush and bunchgrass, home to rattlesnakes, scorpions and other creatures you would not expect in Canada. The area is often called Canada's pocket desert, though scientists prefer to describe it as shrub-steppe.
The Osoyoos Indian Band has turned much of its land into a thriving business, including the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre, which explains the ecology and culture of the Syilx people, and Nk'Mip Cellars, often described as the first Indigenous-owned winery in North America. The town of about forty-five hundred people has beaches, lakeside resorts and plenty of fruit stands, and it is surrounded by vineyards and orchards that stretch north toward Oliver.
For riders, the great road is Highway 3 east of town, which climbs Anarchist Mountain in a series of switchbacks above the lake. The view from the lookout near the top, back over the valley, the lake and the town, is one of the best in the province, especially in the late afternoon. The climb is steep, with tight bends and good surfaces, and it continues east toward Rock Creek and the Kettle Valley through ranching country and forest. West of Osoyoos, Highway 3 heads toward Keremeos and the Similkameen Valley, another lovely ride through dry hills and orchards.
Osoyoos has fuel, food and plenty of places to stay, and Oliver, about twenty kilometres north, has more services. The US border crossing to Oroville is just south of town. Summers are very hot, often above thirty-five degrees, so ride early and carry water. Wildfire smoke can fill the valley in late summer, and the road up Anarchist Mountain can be icy in winter. The best times are spring, when the hills are briefly green and flowers bloom, and autumn, during the grape harvest, when the valley smells of crushed fruit.