My favourite walking trail occupies a former rail corridor that was turned into a terrific path after it was abandoned by Canadian Pacific Railway when the line began losing money. This trail is now known as the KVR trail, short for Kettle Valley Railway Trail.
There is a very gentle grade as the trail climbs above the valley, and the views at the top are amazing.
The trial encompasses hundreds of kilometres and is extremely popular with hikers and cyclists. Overnighting is permitted in certain areas if you plan to do a long trip.
We have done most of the distance between Penticton and Kelowna (76 km) but only in chunks. We are planning to do all of it in the future as a three-day trip.
Always meant to look at this trail, but have never tried it. Thanks for sharing Lynette. Allan
It’s well worth it, especially in spring and fall. It’s cooler (I wouldn’t attempt itin this heat we’ve had) and the colours are fabulous. It’s about 30 km from the car park we use (about half-way up from Penticton) to Chute Lake Lodge. A really great hike there and back.
I would love to walk there.
It really is a wonderful walking/hiking trail. The views are fantastic.
NICE! I see why it is your favorite.
Thanks. 🙂 It really is beautiful, year-round.
I passed through that area of British Columbia on a vacation trip many years ago, but didn’t know about the KVR trail. Looks like I missed something special!
Depending on when you visited, it may still have been an operating rail line. Time for you to come back! 🙂
What great views! The blueness of the water is incredible, and it must me pleasant to walk the grade of a rail trail, rather than having to scramble up steepness.
That’s one of the reasons why it’s so popular. You get the resistance that’s so good for you, but in a gentle way. The width is also helpful. But the best part is those views – so beautiful! It’s somewhat smoky right now because there are two major fires nearby.
Hope they are not threatening you –
They are nearby but headed to the south, so we are fortunate. Thanks for asking. 🙂
That is beautiful! It looks like the kind of trail I could handle (I’m so much more the lazy type, than the active one). Even if it were on the more difficult side, it would be worth it for those views!
It’s not a difficult at all. It’s very wide with a gentle grade, so it’s very accessible to most people. It’s quite lengthy though, with magnificent views all along it. I wouldn’t call you lazy at all – you have done such beautiful and exacting work on your craft room!
That I can do! I’m more lazy when it comes to the exercise side of things, though.
Have a good weekend. 🙂
What a great idea to repurpose an old railway track and convert it into a trail. This sounds like a fabulous path to hike with such great views along the way. Best of luck on completing the entire stretch on a three-day trip!
Thank you! I am looking forward to that. It really is beautiful and there are many places where you just have to stop and take it in. A lot of work was done to bring it into safe repair (old bridges included) and it’s now part of a network that follows the old train route. If we wanted to, we could hike for a couple of weeks on this trail. Cheers.