About Kelowna

Travelers from around the world stay in Kelowna hotels to ski, golf, hike, go on wine tours, and visit the many other attractions in the Land of Ogopogo. In 1859, Father Pandosy settled in Kelowna which developed as a railway community and survived the Okanagan Mountain Park Fires in 2003. On the other side of the Okanagan Lake Bridge from Kelowna is where the Westbank First Nation lived as a self-governing people until 1876. There is a lot to learn about Kelowna’s history and agricultural heritage at its museums and plenty of great places to hike, like Knox Mountain Park, virtually right in the city. Remaining energy can be burned up walking the streets of Kelowna and doing some serious shopping.

About Kelowna

Kelowna was first settled by missionaries in 1859 and its name is the Indian term for ‘Grizzly Bear’. Officially incorporated in 1905, Kelowna had approximately 116,479 residents in 2007 according to BC Stats. This wonderful city on Lake Okanagan is divided into 30 real estate neighbourhoods and is the transportation, business and service hub of the Okanagan Valley. Kelowna is home to the late Premier of British Columbia, W.A.C. Bennett and is the birth place of his son, William R. Bennett, who also served as Premier of BC. Kelowna International Airport is the 10th busiest airport in Canada and offers daily direct flights to and from Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle and Toronto. Tourism is an important source of revenue for the Kelowna economy. Below are facts about the City of Kelowna released in an October 2008 demographic profile by the Economic Development Commission of the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO):

15% of the population between ages of 45 to 54
persons 45 to 54 years of age are fastest growing population segment
over 95% of residents speak English most often at home
over 37% of residents have college or university degree
median household income is $48,859
27% of occupations in sales and service
residential real property tax rates about $6.3896 per $1,000 of Assessed Property

According to the 2001 Statistics Canada BC Agricultural Profile, Kelowna has approximately 9,185 hectares of farmland on which food such as fruits, berries, nuts, and livestock is produced. Local growers of fruits, berries, nuts, and livestock supply Kelowna restaurants with a variety of food and beverage products.

The Legend of Ogopogo

Ogopogo has a 20 to 50 foot long serpent-like body and is believed to live in Lake Okanagan. Interior Salish Native people first reported seeing Ogopogo over 100 years ago. It has often been described as dark blue, black or brown with a lighter underside. Ogopogo sightings have been reported as recently as 2007 and the following three books have been written about his legend:

In Search of Ogopogo: Sacred Creature of the Okanagan, by Arlene Gaal
Ogopogo: The True Story of the Okanagan Lake Million Dollar Monster, by Arlene Gaal
The Okanagan Mystery, by Mary Moon

Ogopogo is an important part of Kelowna’s culture: The Kelowna Rockets Western Hockey League (WHL) team has Ogopogo in its logo and there is a statue of Ogopogo at the foot of Bernard Avenue in the Kelowna North real estate neighbourhood. Kelowna-based Ogopogo Media’s name is derived from the legend of Ogopogo.

The Okanagan Lake Bridge

The Okanagan Lake pontoon bridge was built across Lake Okanagan in July 1958. It connected Kelowna with Westbank, Penticton and other southern Okanagan communities; it was an important link to the Coquihalla Highway that winds through the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver. Twelve pontoons supported by anchors embedded 25 feet into the lake bottom kept the bridge afloat. A 70-ton anchor sits at the intersection of Harvey Avenue and Ellis Street in Kelowna for travelers to view. Below are key facts about the old Okanagan Lake pontoon bridge:

7/8 of a mile in length from shore to shore
three traffic lanes
265 feet long raise-able section to provide 60 feet vertical clearance
supported by ten 200 foot pontoons and two 50 foot pontoons
typical pontoon 50 feet wide and 15 feet in depth
each pontoon submerged about 8 feet under normal conditions
pontoons connected together as a continuous unit, 2100 feet long
one anchor on each side of pontoon

The five-lane William R. Bennett Bridge opened in June 2008 and replaced the Okanagan Lake pontoon bridge. It is named after a resident of Kelowna who served as the Premier of BC. The William R. Bennett Bridge was built to relieve traffic congestion on Highway 97 which is a major highway leading from Kelowna to communities in the West Kelowna real estate neighbourhood and Westbank real estate neighbourhood.

The Okanagan Mountain Park Fires

Lightning Strike

Dry weather and a lightning strike near Rattlesnake Island on Lake Okanagan caused Okanagan Mountain Park to catch fire. The fires caused the following damage to areas south of Kelowna according to news reports:

20,000 hectares of forest and parkland burned
250 homes destroyed
30,000 residents required to flee homes at one point

Myra Canyon Trestles

The Myra Canyon Trestles section of the Kettle Valley Steam Railway system was also destroyed. The canyon’s 12 kilometres of hiking and biking trails have been restored and were re-opened to Kelowna residents and travelers in June 2008. Black charred trees remain in some areas and sections of what was once forest are now residential developments that house Kelowna residents. There is a Myra Canyon Trestles Restoration Society dedicated to preserving the Myra Canyon Trestles.

The Kettle Valley Steam Railway

The Kettle Valley Steam Railway (KVSR) was built from 1910-1915 to preserve Canadian sovereignty over the BC’s Southern Interior in response to the mining boom of the late 19th Century. The KVSR became an important route for transporting silver, fruits and people from the Kootenays to the west coast. The Kettle Valley Steam Railway Society near Kelowna operates the only remaining ten mile section of the railway. Travelers to Kelowna may make a reservation to take a 90-minute open-air passenger car ride on the restored 1912 steam locomotive the ‘3716’. The ‘3716’ travels from the Prairie Valley Station to the Trout Creek Trestle Bridge and back.

Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR)

The BC Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) protects 9,140 hectares of Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land in Kelowna according to a City of Kelowna Agriculture in Brief. This ALC was created in 1973 in response to increasing pressure to use BC’s agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. In January 1, 2001 it reported that Kelowna's ALR land represented about 43% of land area in the City of Kelowna, and a sizable portion of this land is in the South East Kelowna real estate neighbourhood. The Kelowna climate allows about 569 farms to produce food such as the following according to the most recent Statistics Canada Census of Agriculture: livestock, with hens and chickens the most commonly raised; and apples, which represent about 75% of fruits, nuts, and berries grown. Development of Kelowna ALR land for non-agricultural purposes remains an issue as the City of Kelowna continues to grow.

Four Kelowna Museums

View photographs of Kelowna during the late 1800s at the Kelowna Public Archives in the Okanagan Heritage Museum on your next visit. Displays and winemaking artifacts at the BC Wine Museum will introduce you to the Okanagan’s development as a winemaking region. You will learn about fruit packing, processing, preserving, and picking at the BC Orchard Industry Museum. The Okanagan Military Museum has artifacts from the Boer War, World War I, World War II, and more recent military operations. Admission to each one of the museums is by donation. The BC Wine and BC Orchard Industry museums are in the Laurel Packinghouse, on Ellis Street, in Kelowna’s cultural district. The packinghouse was built in 1918 and is the oldest and largest standing packinghouse in British Columbia. A packinghouse is a facility where fruit is received and processed prior to distribution to market.

Kelowna’s First Golf Course

Kelowna’s first golf course was a 9-hole one located near present day City Hall and Memorial Arena. The golf course remained here from 1899 until 1914 when it was moved to the Bankhead area near High Road and Wilson Avenue. After Word War I, the golf course was again relocated to its current site at the intersection of Glenmore Drive and Bernard Avenue in the Glenmore real estate neighbourhood. When it first opened, the course had sand greens, no irrigation system and no clubhouse. Today, it is an 18-hole, semi-private golf course that hosts provincial, national and international amateur golfing events. There are over 30 golf courses to play in the Kelowna area.

Father Pandosy Mission

According to the Okanagan Historical Society, in 1859 a priest by the name of Father Pandosy established the first white settlement in the Okanagan Valley. The Pandosy Mission site is located on Benvoulin Road in Kelowna and it contains four buildings: a chapel, root-house, barn and Brothers’ house. It is listed as one of BC’s oldest buildings according to a November 5th, 2008 Vancouver Sun article 'A Top 40 list of B.C.'s Oldest Buildings' written by John Mackie. Members of the public may visit the Pandosy Mission site between Easter and Thanksgiving and are asked to make a small donation on entry. Today, visitors to Kelowna are often so impressed with the area that they wish to purchase a summer home or other real estate.

Westbank First Nation

One section of Westbank First Nation (WFN) land borders Lake Okanagan and is located in West Kelowna, an area that can be reached by driving from Kelowna over the Okanagan Lake Bridge. Westbank, the WFN land’s modern-day name, was first designated reserve land after the passage of the Government of Canada’s Indian Act in 1876. The Tsinstikeptum Indian Reserve Numbers 9 and 10 belong to the Westbank Indian Band that, until 1963, was part of the larger Okanagan Indian Band based in Vernon, BC. After 15 years of negotiation among its own members as well as the governments of BC and Canada, in 2005 the Westbank Indian Band achieved the status of Westbank First Nation (WFN). As a result, all persons residing or doing business on the reserve are subject to WFN laws. The Westbank Hub Centre shopping mall, Lakeridge Park residential area and a golf course are examples of how proactively the WFN has developed its land to meet the ever-growing population in Westbank. You can read more about the WFN in the history and community profile sections of the WFN website.

Knox Mountain Park

According to The Friends of Knox Mountain Park, nature lovers have three people to thank for Knox Mountain Park’s wonderful walking trails, wildlife and scenery: a convicted felon from Scotland, Arthur Booth Knox; Kelowna’s first medical doctor, Dr. Benjamin deFurlong Boyce; and a local philanthropist, Stanley M. Simpson. Knox Mountain Park is 580 acres of environmentally sensitive, Ponderosa Pine forest and grassland located in Kelowna’s north end. For a workout, drive up to the Stanley M. Simpson Nature Pavilion and hike down, then up, the rocky mountain face back to the car. The Nature Pavilion is also a romantic place to take that special someone for a day or night-time view of Kelowna. There are less intense walking trails at the base of Knox Mountain with no less spectacular views of Lake Okanagan, Kelowna and the mountains to the west. There is lots of wildlife and plant life to enjoy when walking on Knox Mountain: Kokanee Salmon are spawning along the park’s Lake Okanagan shoreline and, especially in the Fall, deer roam the hills. Where there is salmon, there are bears: Knox Mountain Park walkers are cautioned to bring a bell, noisemaker or dog to alert them of their presence, particularly in the early morning or late evening.