Gellatly Nut Farm Regional Park
At harvest time in the fall, the public is invited to go nuts.
It’s a beach, it’s a park, a stroll, a farm, a heritage site - it’s a treasure.
The Gellatly Nut Farm isn’t an institution, but it DOES have quite a history! This is a real farm, and a farm with many assets. A group of very dedicated volunteers on the Westside toiled for several years to lead the people of the entire region in a campaign to preserve this delightful, special place. In September of 2005, as brilliant sunshine sparkled on the lake a few feet from the speakers podium, hundreds of people came from around the Central Okanagan and beyond to celebrate the official opening of the Gellatly Nut Farm as a regional park.
How to Find it...
Like so many of the Westside’s treasures, you’d have a hard time finding the Gellatly Nut Farm if you’re new to the area.
Gellatly Road is another of those big U-shaped loops that connects to the Glenrosa overpass and Highway 97 at one end, and the intersection of Highway 97 and Gellatly near Westbank Shopping Centre at the other. Both entry routes will take you to Gellatly and Whitworth Road, near the thoroughbred horse pastures, and through the gates into the Gellatly Nut Farm itself.
What to Bring...
Grab a picnic basket, a thermos of hot chocolate or a book- once you find the Gellatly Nut Farm, you’ll likely want to linger for a while. If you plan to picnic on the pebbly beach in the summer, a sun umbrella is a good idea. You can put a portable lawn chair, lounge or folding picnic table on the lawn or in the shade beneath the trees.
DON’T bring your dog, though. Since it’s a picnic, play-on-the-lawn-with-babies kind of park, dogs are not allowed.
Once You are There...
When you step onto the new parking lot, you’ll find yourself surrounded and sheltered by hundreds of tall, graceful trees, some of which are a century old. There are other long-lived trees in the Okanagan, but these trees are different. They’re nut trees, grown from seeds from all over the world. These trees are the agricultural pets of one of Westbank’s founding patriarchs, David Erskine Gellatly. You can almost feel the love with which these trees were tended, all those years ago, by the man who had a vision of what the Westbank area could produce- when asked nicely- for people to use, eat and market.
When is it open?
Now, it is open every day from dawn until dusk, and it’s for you - the residents and visitors to the Okangan Valley.
At harvest time in the fall, the public is invited to go nuts. You can help pay for park management and improvements with your purchase of nut farm bounty.
Collect the nuts off the ground yourself after they fall from the boughs, or purchase a bagful, already picked and tumbled free of dirt. At times, works of art will be displayed among the trees and along the shady gravel paths. Weddings can be held here.
If you’re using a wheelchair, or you have babies with you, this is a lovely park to visit.
The pathways are level and wide, with the puddles kept to a minimum by fine gravel. The lawn on the lakeside is close to the beach, so you can picnic within view of the water. There are picnic tables, meditation benches and public washrooms.
Want to know more about the man who founded this farm, the many adventures of Mr. Gellatly and his family, and why he was sometimes called The Tomato King? Visit the Gellatly Nut Farm website: www.gellatlynutfarm.ca
DID YOU KNOW?
Among the many nut species in the park, the most whimsical of all is the heart nut, with a delicately shaped, perfect heart shell. It’s a hard heart, though- to taste its contents, you have to crack it with a hammer !
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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