27. Rose Valley Regional Park – Rose Valley Lake

Category: Return

Distance: 6 km round trip

Height gain: 129 m

High point: 688 m

Time: 1.5–2.5 km round trip

Difficulty: Easy

Seasons: Early spring, summer, late fall

Trailhead coordinates: N50 27.711 W119 16.102

Directions to trailhead: On Harvey Ave. in downtown Kelowna, travel west and cross the William R. Bennett Bridge. At the west end of the bridge, take note of your odometer and travel 2.7 km to Horizon Dr. Turn right onto Horizon and travel for 3.3 km to Westlake Rd. The parking lot for Rose Valley Regional Park is about 300 m down Westlake Rd., on the right (north) side of the road.

This is an easy hike that takes you to a gorgeous lake in an equally gorgeous surrounding.

  1. To start this trek, go through the opening in a wire fence to an information kiosk. Take the first trail on your right and head north.
  2. The journey starts in a hillside forest of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir, with the uphill side on your left. Within the first minute you will meet a fork in the trail. Take the right-hand branch, maintaining a course that is low toward the fenceline.
  3. Within another minute there will be a wonderful little pond on your right. A couple of minutes beyond the pond, you will go by a school, also on your right. Here you will meet another junction, and once again you will take the right-hand branch, staying low.
  4. Seven or eight minutes into the trek the trail veers to the left, away from the school, and starts its uphill journey.
  5. Four or five minutes later you will see houses on your right, and another fork in the trail. The left, more travelled branch is the one you should choose. Keep in mind that this hike begins on Yellow Bell Loop Trail, so watch for small signs containing a yellow bell flower.
  6. The path will soon connect with another trail. At this junction there is a map of the area and a picnic table. Stay on this obvious main trail.
  7. The path climbs through the forest for about 15 minutes, and at the 1.8-km mark it flattens and reaches a T-junction with some signs. The most notable one is the park boundary sign. Take a left turn here and follow the trail as it becomes more exposed through open rangeland.
  8. Within a couple of minutes, the lake comes into view and the trail begins its drop down to Rose Valley Lake.
  9. You will arrive at the lake 10–15 minutes later.
  10. There are a couple of vantage points that allow fantastic north and south vistas of this rather large, glacier-formed lake. Although the natural makeup of the lake is a result of glacial carving, it has been augmented to create a man-made reservoir.
  11. Return the same way.

The approach to Rose Valley Lake is down a gentle grass slope. You see the lake long before you arrive at it.