Kalamalka Lake is the reason to slow down when you reach Vernon. Just south of the city it lies in a long trough between dry hills, and on a sunny day its water shifts from deep blue to bright turquoise and jade green, colours caused by calcium carbonate crystals in the water catching the light. Locals call it the lake of many colours, and from the viewpoint on Highway 97 above its northern end it looks almost tropical, which is a strange thought in interior British Columbia.
Vernon is the main city of the North Okanagan, with nearly fifty thousand people spread across a valley where three lakes meet: Okanagan to the west, Kalamalka to the south and the smaller Swan Lake to the north. It is less touristy than Kelowna or Penticton and more of a working town, with orchards, cattle ranches and forestry in the surrounding hills. North of town, the O'Keefe Ranch preserves the buildings of one of the great cattle ranches of the nineteenth century, including a general store and a small wooden church, and it gives a good sense of the valley before the orchards arrived.
The roads from Vernon offer plenty of choice. Highway 97 south along Kalamalka and Wood lakes is pretty but busy. The road up to Silver Star Mountain, a ski resort with a colourful village, climbs steeply through forest with tight bends and good views. And Highway 6 east toward Lumby and over the Monashee Pass to the Arrow Lakes is one of the great rides of the province, winding through forest and along rivers with very little traffic, but long stretches without services. The east side road along Okanagan Lake, through the hills to Naramata, is narrow and twisty, with fine views.
Vernon has every service, from fuel and motorcycle shops to restaurants and hotels. Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, on the eastern shore, has beaches and trails through grassland and pine, and a swim there on a hot afternoon is hard to beat. Summers are hot and dry, though slightly cooler than the South Okanagan. Wildfire smoke can fill the valley in late summer, and spring brings wildflowers to the hills, with balsamroot turning the slopes yellow in May.