Gellatly Bay area and the CNR Wharf
The Okanagan Trail of Discovery, the beach, the willow trees, the jumpers, the beavers - and great news for your dog - a dog beach!
Found along the Gellatly Bay promenade, near the intersection of Gellatly and Boucherie Road in Westbank, the sign celebrates an Okanagan initiative - a local extension of the Trans Canada Trail. It truly is a trail of discovery, as it is located in one of the areas in Westbank with a rich history and interesting natural assets.
The trail was lengthened a few years ago, to provide more safe and enjoyable walking for visitors and the many people, young and old, who live in the near by modular home parks, new apartments, subdivisions and vacation housing. Start walking, you are about to experience the beauty of Okanagan Lake and some of the history of Westbank first hand!
How to Find It
If you are driving on Highway 97, turn towards the lake on Gellatly Road (turn at the McDonald's). Continue down Gellatly Road until you reach Boucherie and then turn right. You'll spot the old CNR freight docks and a small parking lot. From here, your feet (or wheels) can do the rest.
What to Bring
The Gellatly Bay area is one of those perfect spots where you can enjoy a quick 15 minute walk, a one hour stroll, a couple hours of exploring, and an afternoon of swimming. Bring along the towels, sand toys, and swimsuits. Remember to pack some water and a picnic lunch and you will be ready for some great family fun. Even the dogs get a chance to play!
Once You are There...
From Gellatly Bay and other areas of Westbank, as well as Peachland, you can look across Lake Okanagan to Okanagan Mountain Park, scene of the dramatic 2003 fire that bears its name.
The fire burned at much higher temperatures than a naturally-occurring fire normally would, as fuels had accumulated there for many years. The suppression of natural fires has significantly changed the condition and health of forests in Western Canada, and forest authorities are working on ways they can recreate the benefits of wildfire in forested areas.
Enjoy the walkway: When you want to stay focused, relaxed and close to the Bay,
take the walkway now. Enjoy shade trees, breezes off the lake, picnic tables, and a beach for your dog.
Head toward Gellatly Bay Road where it is joined by Boucherie Road. (To put it another way - walk toward the winery area!)
The gravel walkway along Lake Okanagan is a labour of love, a joint project of the Regional District of the Central Okanagan (R.D.C.O.) and a volunteer group that’s now called the Gellatly Bay Trails and Parks Society - affectionately known by some as “ GB-TAPS”. This nearly level path is suitable for strollers and wheelchairs as well as shoes, and is walkable, almost mud and puddle-free most of the year. Much of it is also lit at night for pleasant evening strolls by the lake.
The Docks and the Dares:
Walk along toward the replica of the old CNR freight docks. In summer, the dock is alive with children and teens, many taking the daring leap from atop the replica lift towers.
If you see some orange mesh around the tall cottonwood trees here, you’re looking at attempts to discourage the industrious local beavers, who think nothing of attempting to chew down the tallest trees in the neighbourhood!
Most fun for canoeists who have athletic kids:
When the kids beg to go to the beach, do what one local paddler did – tell them,
“Sure we’ll go to Gellatly Bay- IF you kids load the canoe onto the roof of the car!”
The canoe goes up, is unloaded quickly at the beach, and while they swim, some of us can go paddling.
The Gellatly Bay dog beach is a nice shady spot where canine friends are invited to swim and play. There’s also a little surprise here. Just a few metres away from the intersection of Gellatly Road and Boucherie on the shores of Lake Okanagan at the north end of the dog beach is a small but important Natural Asset- the mouth of Smith Creek.
You will see a small wooden foot bridge over a fast-moving stream there, and in autumn, salmon struggle against the current right under your nose. You’re still on the “Path to Discovery!
At the mouth of the creek, if you look carefully at the banks, you’ll notice some small shrubs. These have been planted by the parks department to help ‘rehabilitate’ the banks of the creek. Some of the Kokanee salmon you’ll see in fall are bound for the upper reaches of Smith Creek, and others will branch off into Tomat Creek, which joins Smith just a little way up the hill. Try to keep your children and dogs off the banks of the stream - but here, you can get always get both your children AND the dog to “go jump in the lake!”
At the Dog Beach, part of Gellatly Bay Aquatic Park - the centre of Westside canine joy - and just minutes away from Westbank Shopping Centre and Highway 97. Make sure you have a pocket full of tidy-up bags, as children use this beach, too.
When you want to stay focused, relaxed and close the Bay, stroll the walkway. Enjoy shade trees, breezes off the lake, picnic tables, and a beach for your dog.
Another Option: The Pebble Beach to Green Bay Mini Marathon:
For one of those days when you have the luxury of time - and a pair of comfy shoes - here’s a mini-marathon you can do in a few hours, by bicycle or on foot.
- Pebble Beach is located beneath the bluffs of Gellatly Heritage Park, far below craggy Goat’s Peak. To get there, go to the intersection of Gellatly and Whitworth and turn southwest onto Whitworth. Pass the Gellatly Nut Farm gateway, and follow a couple of turns to the very end of the road. (From Pebble Beach, you can see down the lake toward Peachland, though the town is not in view.) Now, grab your water, put on your hat and start your walk!
- Stroll past some beautiful palatial lakefront homes.
- Proceed back toward Gellatly Nut Farm, but resist the temptation to go onto the grounds - that’s your tranquility stroll or picnic for another time. When you get to the end of Whitworth, turn right onto Gellatly again.
- The thoroughbred racehorse farm. If you’ve noticed that there seems to be quite a number of tall horses around, that’s because you’re passing the Bennett family’s farm, located here for decades. There are many beautiful foals grazing with their mothers in spring and summer.
- Once you are past the horse farm turn left (you are still on Gellatly) toward the yacht club…looking ‘way off North in the distance, you’ll see Kelowna sprawling along the opposite side of the lake. You’re headed toward the many pleasures of Gellatly Bay Aquatic Park.
- That little “ship” that’s permanently berthed on the lakeshore is the Westbank Yacht Club, with its public boat launch next to a charming wooden bridge.
Beneath that bridge flows the last few metres of the magnificent, far-reaching, fish-bearing Powers Creek. It may look lazy the day you see it first, but Powers Creek has poured, wound and tumbled its way down from the heights of Last Mountain, wandered forested Powers Creek Regional Park, and roared through Glen Canyon before sauntering under your feet right here.
- Continuing on your walking way, discover another pleasant lakeshore park linked to Gellatly Bay Aquatic Park on the other side of Smith Creek and the dog beach. This pleasant little Rotary park is off-limits to dogs. It’s a nice picnic spot, with stairs leading into the water. As you continue along the walking path, you’ll pass a pretty, treed section of the shore with a stone retaining wall and several picnic tables that belongs to the Westbank First Nation, though the public is welcome.
This is a good place to stop, enjoy the scenary, a quick dunk in the lake, and a snack. We usually head back to our starting point at Pebble Beach from here, but if you are game for more adventure, continue heading north (once you hit the intersection of Gellatly and Boucherie Road, stay on Boucherie Road - along the lake).
- Further along is a lakeshore Westbank First Nation camping area. Proceeding on in a northeasterly direction toward Lake Okanagan bridge, you’re now leaving the Gellatly Bay area and heading to Green Bay - a delightful neighbourhood of its own, and a nice spot to take a canoe!
- This long and winding road takes you along the lake, past a mobile home park, the craggy hills of Mount Boucherie, the bell towers of Mission Hill Winery (listen for the bells on the hour), past open fields, lamas (if you are lucky) and into Green Bay. You are actually walking along ancient shorelines of Lake Penticton leftover from the last glacial deposit over 12,000 years ago.
If you’re on a bicycle, or if you want to put some serious but level kilometers on your runners, you’ll likely enjoy a detour off Boucherie on Pritchard Drive. There are some interesting homes there close to the lake and along another inland water body, and a small waterfront park. This drive doesn’t go back up to Boucherie, so you’ll have to turn around at the end of Pritchard.
Fast Eco-Facts
Vegetation is needed along the edges of ponds, lakes and streams to keep the water cool, so that the fish don’t get too warm and unhealthy and are protected from predators. People who “tidy up” the banks of lakes, ponds or streams on their property by removing all the natural vegetation are actually making things tough for the stream and its creatures! The herons think it’s great, however - when the bushes are cleared, it’s easier for these graceful but show-no-mercy birds to spear themselves a fish dinner.
Other explorations in the Gellatly Bay area:
Near the Yacht Club there’s another small park- Rotary Trails Park.
Pleasant, shaded Rotary Trails Park is just across the road from the boat ramp. This is a beautiful, abundantly-treed park of many small bridges, to allow you to enjoy another aspect of dynamic Powers Creek. Even a few minutes here among the trees can make you feel more serene.
Back to the southwest, on the way to Gellatly Heritage Park: You’ll have to look carefully for this one. At another forest spot, a five-minute walk past Whitworth Road where Gellatly Road comes very close to Powers Creek, a small wooden footbridge leads to a hidden, almost mystical small canyon.
There’s a series of narrow trails with many carefully-carved or constructed stairs rising up the canyon walls from the creek to the grassland ridge. Once you arrive atop the stairs, the park does not continue, as private land surrounds it. There are several meditation and/or spots, and we know for a fact that owls live nearby !
Disclaimer: Please remember to hike safe. Consider your level of fitness, the terrain, the weather, the wildlife, and the expertise/age of those you are hiking with. Since conditions of trails change over time, we do not guarantee the accuracy of our information. Hike at your own risk.
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