Some 25 years after the idea was conceived, cyclists and pedestrians can now travel between West Kelowna and Peachland without risking injury on Highway 97, thanks to the Peachland to West Kelowna Multi-Use Trail, which celebrated its grand opening.
The 2.7-kilometre-long path links West Kelowna from Seclusion Bay to Peachland and offers users not only safe passage, but also sweeping views up and down Okanagan Lake.
The connecting trail has been a long time coming.
The Gellatly Bay Trails and Parks Society was asked to bring a trail to Peachland 25 years ago, said Bruce Dalrymple, the society鈥檚 president and a retired engineer with a love of the outdoors.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛, because Goat鈥檚 Peak was not a park. It was private property,鈥 said Dalrymple.
When Goat鈥檚 Peak opened in 2015, the society began working with Peachland and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to put the trail through.
It was a challenge to find a design that the Ministry of Transportation would accept; however, what was once a deer trail is now a 10-foot-wide path built with 6,000 tonnes of crushed gravel.
Peachland Mayor Patrick Van Minsel said the $2 million project was funded by over $920,000 from the B.C. Active Transportation Grants Program, $356,000 from the federal Communities鈥 Active Transportation Fund, and $400,000 from the District of Peachland. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure donated fill as well as highway barriers.
鈥淣ow we鈥檝e got to encourage people to use it,鈥 said Garry Wittich of the Gellatly Bay Trails and Parks Society. 鈥淥nce they come out and see what a beautiful job the contractor has done, I think they鈥檒l use it a lot.鈥
Craig Thompson was part of a group of cyclists that pedalled from Heritage Park in Peachland for the official opening.
鈥淚t took us about 20 minutes,鈥 he said. 鈥淒epending on the type of bicycle you鈥檙e riding, you have to work at it.鈥
It was Thompson鈥檚 first time cycling the trail, but he can see himself riding it frequently.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 fantastic for the community and for being able to connect West Kelowna to Peachland,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 think we need to move to a more active transport solution,鈥 said Lloyd Stinson Sotas of the Peachland Outdoors Club. 鈥淎 lot of people do commute back and forth. I think, from the business perspective too, restaurants will have a grand time on both sides, with new customers coming for a beer after they鈥檝e had an invigorating cycle.鈥
The trail also represents part of the valley鈥檚 rich history.
The opening of the Peachland to West Kelowna section brings the Trail of the Okanagans Society closer to its dream of a 370-kilometre-long hiking and cycling trail from Sicamous to Brewster, Washington.
鈥淭his stretch鈥2.7 kilometres鈥攎ay be short, but it鈥檚 very important because it鈥檚 the most technically difficult piece of the trail to build,鈥 said Janice Liebe, president of the Trail of the Okanagans Society, an advocacy group focused on trail sections between the Bennett Bridge and the Canada鈥揢.S. border. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essential to have this piece so we can continue to build south and north, and connect all the way from Sicamous in the north to Brewster, Washington.鈥
The original Trail of the Okanagans, carbon-dated to be more than 6,000 years old, was a major trading route that connected the Syilx Okanagan communities.
The society is following the original trail as closely as possible as it works to stitch together more than 100 individual pieces of a fragmented linear hiking and biking pathway that exists from Osoyoos to Kelowna.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping today really inspires a lot of other communities to say, 鈥楬ey, I want to be a part of that,鈥欌 said Liebe.
鈥淭he City of West Kelowna is actively working on our portion of the Trail of the Okanagans by embedding it within our Transportation Master Plan, currently in progress,鈥 said West Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the Talking Circle, a feature designed to bring people together鈥攚here they can stop, take in the breathtaking view, picnic, drink some water, and ponder the long history of the valley.
