The following article is written by West Kelowna columnist Deborah Greaves, who has agreed to work with Catherine Mamo. Deborah writes about outdoor activities, businesses and places for publications and contract clients, and is outside every day.

Visit Deborah’s website at www.airwaterearth.ca/

Rose Valley Regional Park is a natural asset that deserves several hours of your time, and requires a bit of preparation to enjoy it fully.

This park is rugged, yet features a network of wide and easy-to-follow forested paths as well as steep, challenging trails and panorama views.  You have several options in Rose Valley Regional, and each provides satisfying experiences that will linger in your mind for hours and days after your visit.

Before you come, pack a wide-brimmed hat and a small first aid kit as well as water and a snack, and put on a pair of seriously treaded, securely fitted hiking shoes or boots. Check the weather forecast, and bring along clothing to protect you from sun, wind or precipitation. And bring a camera. The few minutes of extra effort to be ready for whatever the forest and ridges of Rose Valley Park may share with you will be worth it.

Rose Valley Regional Park is quite easy to find, even if you’re new to Kelowna and its sister community, West Kelowna. Grab a map or guidebook to explore your options.  First, travel to the west side of the bridge, and turn at the T intersection of Highway 97 and Westlake Road.  Travel uphill on Westlake Road.

Should you choose the roads less traveled, the ridges and hills of this huge and sprawling park will get your heart thumping and your eyes filled.

If you choose to take a mostly level approach, perhaps with a child on a mountain bike, turn onto Rosewood Drive in the Rose Valley Homes subdivision for an enjoyable stroll to the dam on a wide gravel road though the forest.

If you decide on a gentler walk, you can treat yourself to a stroll around Rose Valley Pond, accessed easily from a small parking lot on Westlake across from the Fire Hall and teeming with birds and creatures of all kinds.

If you want to take up the lung-expanding challenge, you can park near the pond and fire hall, set off on one of the wide hillside pathways and get ready for at least a half hour work-out as you walk up to the ridges above.

How long you ascend depends on your fitness and which section of Westlake Road you’ve started from.  To cut some climbing time off the hike, you can drive up to the end of West Kelowna Road just past the elementary school, park on the roadside, pass through the gate and head through a meadow and once-burned forest to the ridges and views above.

In all four seasons, Rose Valley Regional Park offers breathtaking views of Lake Okanagan, the City of Kelowna, the new municipality of West Kelowna and beyond. Views of neighbouring mountain ridges include MacDougall Rim, and the sparkling reservoir lake that shares the park’s name.

There’s green and burned forest and grassy meadows and twisting trails down to the reservoir lake.  There are great lookouts and perches for picnic lunches, dozens of species of wildflowers, craggy rock formations and a wide variety of birds and other wildlife.  Rose Valley Dam’s lake is home to hundreds of Western Red Painted Turtles. The surrounding forests stretch for many kilometres, providing habitat for coyotes, deer, bear and the elusive cougar as well as other animals. Raptors range above and humming birds nest in the shrubs.

Your dog is welcome to accompany you into Rose Valley Regional Park
if it’s on leash, and in this watershed area it’s vital that you clean up after your pet.  Take out whatever you took in. To avoid damaging sensitive vegetation or spreading invasive weeds, keep on the trails.

People from all over the world have come to hike in the Okanagan Valley, and Rose Valley Regional Park is a destination park we can be proud of.

Contact Deborah via email at westsidebusiness@shaw.ca or by phone at 250-768-4885.