Goat’s Peak Hike

Where:

• Goat’s Peak

 

When:

• July 2, 2021

 

Who:

• Ed, Zac

 

Trailhead:

• from Kelowna head south on Highway 97 for 20 minutes through West Kelowna towards Peachland
• just after the turnoff for 97C and just past the overpass, take the left turn onto Seclusion Bay Road
• shortly along this road where it connects with Seclusion Bay Road coming from Peachland, the parking lot is on your left-hand side
• the trailhead is out the far end of the parking lot at the metal gate

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 350 meters of elevation gain
• 7  km out and back
• the trail starts at a metal gate along a double-wide gravel road for a km where it forks up a single track path
• it is clearly marked with metal placards along the entire trail, but there are a few turns that are not well marked, so it’s best to download a GPS map (we missed a turn on the way down that added a half km to the journey and some additional climbing)
• good hiking shoes/boot treads are recommended due to the steepness and loose shale
• the hike took us just under 2 hours, and we moved at a reasonably leisurely pace

 

 

Interesting notes:

• Goat’s Peak is very open without much shade, so it was very hot in the 25C weather
• the trail name comes from the Angora Goats that the Gellatly family raised and let roam in this area (softest, fluffiest goats in the world)
• the designated trail names are translated into nsyilxcen, which is the language of the sylix/Okanagan people

• there are panoramic views up and down Lake Okanagan and across the lake to Okanagan Mountain Park and Mount Boucherie
• we saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree near the top on the way up and scouring in the sky on the way down
• there are also Western Rattlesnakes in the area (only rattlesnake in B.C. and one of three remaining species in Canada)