12. Stephens Coyote Ridge Regional Park – Ponds Walk

Category: Return

Distance: 4 km

Height gain: 122 m

High point: 579 m

Time: 1–2 hrs. round trip

Difficulty: Easy

Seasons: Early spring, summer, late fall

Trailhead coordinates: N49 57.783 W119 25.475

Directions to trailhead: Heading north from downtown Kelowna on Highway 97, turn left on Glenmore Rd. Drive 9.3 km to reach the North Glenmore Dog Park on the left side of the road. The entrance to Stephens Coyote Ridge Regional Park is on the right (north) side of the parking lot.

This casual hike goes between two small, marshy ponds, with an abundance of waterfowl, on its way to a viewpoint that provides vistas of North Glenmore and Kelowna.

 

See map here.

  1. From the parking lot, get onto the wide grassy path on the right (north) side that travels between fences on either side of the trail. This trail will take you into a forest within a couple of minutes.
  2. Five to ten minutes later this double-wide trail comes to a meadow that presents spectacular vistas of the local countryside.
  3. Wandering through this meadow for five minutes brings you to a T-junction. Turn left.
  4. Without veering off onto any of the side trails, you will drop into and come out of a small gully 80 m from the T-junction. Seventy metres past the gully is the only key intersection in the journey. Take the left fork at this intersection.
  5. Half a kilometre from the T-junction, the trail meanders up to a knoll, where suddenly the larger of the two ponds is seen.
  6. The trail drops sharply down toward the plateau that encompasses the ponds, which are about 300 m from the top of the knoll.
  7. Passing between the ponds, continue beyond them for another 350 m to reach a viewpoint offering sights of northern Kelowna.
  8. The area beyond this viewpoint is scattered with “No Trespassing” signs, but the landowner has no problem with hikers going beyond the signs to catch a view. He has asked me to ensure that everyone cleans up after themselves, so please do.