Why this ride
Lakeside sweepers, frequent viewpoints and reliable stop density. It also links naturally to Okanagan cultural landscape.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Okanagan Lakes Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 354 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 01
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check provincial road reports, wildfire closures, ferries and fuel range. Specific flag: heat; traffic.
Seasonal context
May-Oct
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kelowna
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.
Read the complete Kelowna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kelowna sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Penticton.
2. Penticton
Penticton is pinched between two lakes, Okanagan to the north and Skaha to the south, joined by a short river channel that becomes a slow parade of inflatable tubes on hot summer days. The city of nearly forty thousand people has beaches at both ends, a downtown with good cafes and a long lakeside promenade, and it serves as the main town of the South Okanagan, a dry valley of orchards, vineyards and sagebrush hills that feels more like California than the rest of Canada.
Read the complete Penticton write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Penticton comes up 70 km in. Next is Osoyoos.
3. Osoyoos
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.
Read the complete Osoyoos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
140 km in you reach Osoyoos. Next is Vernon.
4. Vernon
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.
Read the complete Vernon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vernon, late in the day. Next is Kelowna.
5. Kelowna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kelowna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kelowna sits at 354 km, late in the day.
Recorded source links
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Okanagan Valley Sweep ยท 925 km