Penticton-Oliver, BC

This is a road trip travelogue from Calgary to Penticton-Oliver, BC and back. We were a group of 8 which included adults, kid and a senior, my mom. This trip was done in the August 2023. Itinerary with links can be found at end of this page.

Penticton and Oliver and two towns in the Okanagan Valley in southern British Columbia. This trip taught us a lot about vineyards and regenerative farming.

Day 1: Calgary to Revelstoke

We started our journey from Calgary on a Friday morning, reached Revelstoke, checked in to hotel and then went pout to explore Revelstoke. Revelstoke’s pet name is “Reve”, such a cute name !

Pipe mountain coaster

Our first place to check out was Pipe mountain coaster. Its a single person coaster that takes you down the mountain at the max of 50km/hr. It is located at the Revelstoke ski resort. Its a really fun ride twisting, turning, taking smooth curves, going between the trees, through small tunnels, coming down the meadows and all the while you can control the speed. We took the tickets after reaching there. Please look for the operating hours before heading there.

The ski resort area in summer is so beautiful

Evening walk in the town

We went for a really nice walk exploring Reve town in the evening. The railway museum was closed by that time. there are some nice walking paths by the river. The town had live music, really well lit up and a great ambiance.

The live music area in the heart of the town
Holten (not Haunted) B&B – This was a sign board on Hwy1 that attracted me and was excited to the see the place!

Day 2: Revelstoke to Oliver

Sky Trek Adventure

First stop was at Sky Trek Adventure. Its right on highway 1. If you are not scared of heights, this is a perfect little adventure. Well, I am scared oof heights actually, but I was still able to do the first 2 levels of their sky course. As the levels increase it gets tougher. They do have zip lines, mini sky walks for kids, jungle gym, climbing walls. Amazing place to spend a half day. We did only the sky course. I took a quick photo before starting my adventure and I was sure I will be holding on tightly on the course and won’t be able to take pics!

Right next to Sky trek there is an enchanted forest with elf’s, gnomes, tree houses, castles etc. which I heard is really fun for kids. But as our kids were a bit older, they didn’t want to check it out.

Mara Lake

Next stop was for lunch and water time at Mara lake on highway 97A. We were just driving by and saw a nice spot to go down to the lake. There were so many cars parked on the roads and that’s why we found this spot. We had a really nice relaxing afternoon playing in the water. There were some picnic tables and washrooms in that area.

After Mara Lake stop, we just pretty much drove through to Oliver were we staying for couple of nights. Penticton is probably a better option to stay but I chose Oliver so we could cover Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos.

Day 3: Oliver – Osoyoos

Covert Farms

When we visited Okanagan few years back, we went to a vineyard which offered cellar tours and wine tasting. I wanted to go near the grape vines, but they were not allowing people to go near their grapes. This time we found Covert farms in Oliver. They provide a great tour of their vineyards, explained about how they do regenerative farming followed by black berry picking and wine tasting. We were asking so many questions that our guide thought maybe we were going to buy a vineyard!! I replied I’m just curious as my dad always educated me about plants and the farming techniques. Farm animals grazing in the vineyards, undergrowth are all techniques in regenerative farming. More info on their farming style at https://www.covertfarms.ca/…/our-regenerative-organic…

I did call them ahead of time and booked the tour.

From our tour truck
Vegetables
Blackberries
Eat and pick as much as you can !
Our wine tasting session with a nice charcuterie board
Boys had a great play time as well with jumping mats and slides

Desert Center, Osoyoos

Oliver to Osoyoos is about 20 mins drive. Osoyoos is probably the hottest place in Canada and is indeed a desert. It was 42 degrees the day we visited. But majority of the desert land is converted to vineyards now. Did you know, vines need the climate to be warm ? During winter season they use warm air producing machines which look like a wind mill

Desert walk was interesting but really hot ! Our kids didnt even come on the walk

Vineyards just beside the desert.

Snack stop after desert walk : Roberto’s Gelato OR  Trickle berry’s ice-cream

Orchards on the road side

On our drive back to Oliver, we just stopped by orchards on the side of the roads to take close peek at the fruits!

Blueberry
Apples
Peaches
Apples

Day 4: Penticton

Oliver to Penticton is about 40mins drive. We spend our morning for

The Channel float

Penticton channel float was a very relaxing activity. I did call the Coyote Cruises and booked my float time, quad floatie and bus ticket back to the parking. They get us our floaties, life jackets, oars and gets us started off. We rented 2 quad floaties and tied it together. The float is for 7kms and took us around 2.5 to 3 hours. We can easily spot the place for us to embark and there will be people to help. From there we can cath the bus to get us back to the starting point where we parked our car. More info at The Channel Float – Visit Penticton

Biking the Kettle Valley Rail (KVR) Trail

We spend our afternoon exploring the Kettle Valley Rail trail on bikes. Rented our bikes from Penticton Bike Rentals. Some of us took e-bikes. It is a huge trail extending 100s of Kms. Our plan was to only bike from Vancouver place, Penticton to Little tunnel which is 16kms one way. We didn’t actually do till little tunnel the planned time we had for this activity was not enough. We were moderate bikers. The trail is amazing and takes us through vineyards, orchards, bridges, trestles, lake view, pump park etc..

Day 5: Drive Oliver to Golden

Kangaroo Creek farm, Kelowna

On the way we stopped at Kelowna Kangaroo Creek farm. Refer to the Kelowna – AK Nature Wall page for info.

Picnic lunch at Kal lake

Kalamalka Lake also called as Kal lake is a lake on our way, which is amazingly beautiful and a perfect picnic spot. There are washrooms, picnic tables, and a bridge extended to the lake.

Day 6: Golden to Calgary

We stayed the night at golden and in the morning explored the Golden sky bridge

Golden Sky Bridge

Its a great place to spend half a day. There are 2 suspension bridges which are really high above the ground. You have to cross the mountains using one bridge and come back using the other bridge. For the adventure hearts there is zip line across the mountains.

Itinerary

What to book in advance