Kettle Valley Railroad (Myra Canyon) Hike

Where:

• Kettle Valley Railroad (Myra Canyon section)

 

When:

• August 7, 2020

 

Who:

• Ed, Jace, Marilyn, Stephanie, Mary

 

Trailhead:

• the portion we hiked start is located in S.E. Kelowna at Myra Station on Okanagan Mountain
• 24 km from downtown Kelowna (about a 40-minute drive)
• take KLO road from downtown Kelowna then take the Y intersection right hand turn to McCullough Road towards Gallagher’s Canyon golf course
• go past the turnoff to Gallagher’s until you get to the Myra Forest Service Road and turn right
• follow this gravel road for 8 km to the parking lot where the trailhead starts at the far end

 

Degree of difficulty:

• flat walk as the whole trail is only a 2.2% grade
• we walked 4 km out and back (8 km total) of the 12 km trail
• spent two hours on the trail
• the hike is appropriate for all ages due to no elevation and a wide road path

 

 

Interesting notes:

• most people bike this trail as you can cover more ground and there are rentals available at the trailhead
• the trail is 910 meters (3000 feet) above Lake Okanagan
• Myra Canyon section of the KVR runs through 2 tunnels and 18 trestles, most of which were rebuilt after the massive 2003 wildfires
• the trail is along a steep-walled canyon
• the railroad opened in 1915 and was built to preserve Canadian sovereignty of British Columbia and to retain the valuable mining revenues within Canada
• the last trains ran in 1989, but the trail remained open as an off-road trail and part of the Trans Canada trail

• it was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 2002
• there are lots of interesting signs along the path to explain the history of the railroad
• Little White Mountain is prominent up the valley and is the largest peak in Myra Bellevue Park at 2170 meters (7122 feet)