24. Kalamoir Regional Park

Category: Loop

Distance: 3.6 km round trip

Height gain: 78 m

High point: 425 m

Time: 1–2 hrs. round trip

Difficulty: Moderate

Seasons: Early spring, summer, late fall

Trailhead coordinates: N49 50.750 W119 32.821

Directions to trailhead: On Highway 97 in downtown Kelowna, drive west to cross the William R. Bennett Bridge. At the west end of the bridge, take note of your odometer and travel 2.6 km, turning left onto Boucherie Rd. Drive 1.4 km to Stuart Rd. Turn left onto Stuart and drive 750 m to Thacker Dr. Turn right onto Thacker. After 1.1 km, turn right at Collens Hill Rd. Very quickly, Collens Hill Rd. takes an abrupt right curve. Follow Collens Hill Rd. downward for 1 km to the lakeside parking lot.

This short hike provides splendid views of Okanagan Lake and slope-side walks through grasslands, but the chief geological allure is the remnants of volcanic activity strewn throughout the park.

  1. The park trail system consists of three interlocking trails. The lowest in elevation is the Waterfront Trail, while the two upper trails are the Upper Rim and Mike Passmore trails. Start this trek with an immediate climb up a single-track trail, which levels off within five minutes of hiking. This is the Waterfront Trail.
  2. The trek soon becomes a walk on a grassy hillside with the high ground on your right side. You will pass by some of this park’s gifts of volcanic debris on the uphill side right away.
  3. An advantage of a clear hillside trek is the vistas that are granted without obstruction, and this is fully presented within 2–3 minutes from the trailhead. Straight ahead as you look south, Okanagan Lake overshadows everything around you.
  4. A minor junction is encountered 7–8 minutes from the trailhead, with a fork going up to the right, but the main trail, which you should stay on, continues straight.
  5. A few minutes later, a park sign and information stand are visible. Take a right at a fork in the trail just as these come into view. You have now left the Waterfront Trail and have joined the Upper Rim Trail. The path here is narrower and ascends moderately.
  6. A few minutes later you will come to another fork in the trail. The path going downhill on the right is the same one that left the trail on the right earlier. Stay on the upper path, staying straight.
  7. Roughly 1 km into the hike the first of two park benches, which are five minutes apart, appears on your left.
  8. Past the second bench, the trail descends slightly for about five minutes until it crosses the road you drove down to the parking lot (Collens Hill Rd.).
  9. The trail continues to go downward on the other side of the road for a couple of minutes until it comes to a faint fork in the trail. Although the fork going up to the left is unmarked, and indistinguishable from any other trail, it is in fact the south end of the Mike Passmore Trail. If you miss this and carry on down the main trail, you will simply arrive back at the Waterfront Trail sooner rather than later.
  10. After five minutes of hiking on the Mike Passmore Trail, you begin to descend toward the lake, making your way from the upper grassland slopes through a sparse forest of western hemlock.
  11. About 45 minutes from the trailhead, Mike Passmore Trail intersects with Waterfront Trail. Make a right turn here, and hike about 1 km back to the parking lot on a level, delightful, lakeside stroll along the Waterfront Trail.

The scenic Kalamoir Regional Park trek grants a variety of landscapes, from dry, grassy slopes to lush forests such as this one.