Kelowna Parks Challenge Trip #4
This post is the second of a two-part series. Read the first part here.
In Part 1 of this trip log I described the first half of my walk from Downtown Kelowna to South Pandosy. I walked along the lakeshore with my wife, Jen, and saw many beaches and parks. This post describes the second half of our walk, from Burne Avenue Beach Access, where the last post left off, to West Avenue Beach Access, visiting Cadder, Royal, and Francis Avenue Beach Accesses on the way, along with Strathcona Park, Kinsmen Park, and the Maude Roxby Marsh.
Read on for my impressions and reflections
Cadder Avenue Beach Access
This beach was the busiest beach access park we visited on our walk. Whereas many of the beaches had only had a couple of people on them, this one had several parties. It also seemed busy for its size. Bounded on both sides by a fence, it was not possible to easily assert one’s right of access to the waterfront and wander to the next park along the sand.
As for features, this beach has only a bench, providing a nice place to sit in the shade of its one large willow tree.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There are no washrooms or drinking fountains in this park.
Dog Rules: This is a beach, so no dogs are allowed.
Royal Avenue Beach Access
At this point along the lakeshore, the high-water mark was getting closer to the water and the natural beaches were getting narrower. That made this park different than the other beach access parks we had visited so far on this adventure.
Instead of a black, metal fence, there is a white wooden fence; instead of the sand reaching to the parking lot, there is a parkland of grass and trees; and it is obvious the bank had to be cut away in order to accommodate the desired sandy beach.
Next to the parking lot there is an empty lot, currently surrounded by a yellow fence. When I saw it, I hoped it might have been recently acquired for park expansion, but a visit to the official city map shows it is zoned RU6, for two-dwelling housing.
Interestingly, the map also shows that the foreshore south of this park, all the way to Strathcona Park is currently zoned as a road, and is designated as a future park. I’m not sure what that means for the owners of the lots involved. The beach currently extends in front of the first lot, but then there are trees blocking the way onward.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There are no washrooms or drinking fountains in this park.
Dog Rules: This is a beach, so no dogs are allowed.
Strathcona Park
Situated across the street from the hospital, this park has a large lawn with enough trees to keep it interesting and a good-sized beach with a lot of room. It is not a flashy park, but it has all the basic features you need, unless you need a place to bring your dog.
The city map shows a future plan to expand the park to the south someday, along with a plan to complete the Waterfront Walkway south to the Maude Roxby Marsh. Currently, that path runs north from the marsh along the foreshore, but ends three lots short of this park.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: This park has washrooms on the eastern side (near the road), and has a drinking fountain in front of the washrooms.
Dog Rules: This is a beach, so no dogs are allowed.
Maude Roxby Wetland
This riparian wonderland, tucked away behind a gated community, preserves one of the last remaining fragments of the marsh ecosystem that used to line Kelowna’s Okanagan Lake shore. As such, it is incalculably precious, and a regional destination for nature lovers. It was the highlight of this adventure for us.
Currently, you have to get to this park through the Francis Avenue Beach Access, to the south. There is a path leading north from this park towards Strathcona Park, but it is currently a dead end. There are plans to extend it in the future, past the last three lots, though Right of Access to the foreshore might already make the connection legally possible.
Though this park is thirty years old, the boardwalk appears well-maintained. Most of the railings and some of the decking appeared relatively new on this visit.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There are no washrooms or drinking fountains in this park.
Dog Rules: This is a nature preserve and bird sanctuary, so no dogs are allowed.
Francis Avenue Beach Access
This beach is much larger than I expected. On the south side, it extends in front of the adjacent residential lot, and on the north side, it blends into the Maude Roxby Wetland. Maybe it was the fact that half of it is technically part of the wetland park, but this felt like a less cultivated beach than others we visited. I imagined it was like visiting the windswept dunes on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean or North Sea.
From this beach, no fence prevents you from exercising your Right of Access to the foreshore and crossing the sand to the next park down.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There are no washrooms or drinking fountains in this park.
Dog Rules: This is a beach, so no dogs are allowed.
Kinsmen Park
Like Strathcona Park, this park has a good mix of grass and trees. Unlike Strathcona Park, this park has no beach. Instead, it is lined by a retaining wall and has signs that warn of a steep drop-off. There are a couple of staircases down into the water so it is still possible to swim here.
This park has a playground and two tennis courts. It also has a more interesting tree selection than some of the others. Whereas most of the parks we visited on this trip featured the same willows and cottonwoods, in this park I spotted a larch and a chestnut. Not the most exotic of trees, I know, but I was happy for the unexpected variation.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is a washroom in this park, in the southeast corner. There are no drinking fountains in this park.
Dog Rules: Even though there is no beach here, per se, there are still no dogs allowed.
West Avenue Beach Access
After a series of larger parks, this beach seemed small in scale. Lined on both sides by substantial walls, it had a secret garden feel. Like Royal Avenue Beach Access, this park has a grassy upland section. There is a bench here and a picnic table.
With this park, we reached the urban centre of South Pandosy. Out of the Heritage Conservation Area since Strathcona, the houses here appear much more modern, if no less expensive.
As fun and easy as it is to string together a series of lakefront parks, we felt like we wanted to continue on to the next one, but it was time to go home, so we left the water and headed east to Pandosy Street, where we took a bus downtown.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There are no washrooms or drinking fountains in this park.
Dog Rules: This is a beach, so no dogs are allowed.
Reflections
Weather
The weather was wonderful on this adventure. For the most part, it was sunny, which was great for visiting beaches. Many people agreed, and were out in the parks, enjoying the summer.
During the whole trip, however, a rainstorm was visible to the south. It hung over Okanagan Mountain when we began our walk, but we could see it coming closer with each view we got. It finally caught up with us when we reached the Roxby Marsh. As we wandered the boardwalk, we were covered by clouds and sprinkled by rain.
But this too was wonderful, of course. How more appropriate to the setting could the weather have been? As I walked among the cattails and the wet shrubs, I was reminded of my former home in the Fraser Valley. By the time we exited the forest, the storm had moved on to the east.
Nature Bath
Whether or not you believe there are scientifically-measurable health benefits to spending time in nature, I can tell you that it makes me feel good. And, while it might be easy to get that feeling in the wild places surrounding the city, it is not always so simple to find it in the centre of town.
I am always on the ‘lookout’ for that feeling when visiting a park, and most landscapes, with their cultivated parklands and carefully combed beaches do not give me enough of it. I am not content simply to walk on an uninterrupted carpet of green grass, I seem to require the possibility of forgetting that I am in the city altogether.
So far, there have been several parks that have given me a some of that feeling, such as Rotary Marsh, Sunset Drive Park, and Poplar Point Beach Access, but the best so far has been the Maude Roxby Wetland. I look forward to discovering many more.
Wildlife
The Roxby Marsh is a bird sanctuary, and we did spy some birds there. We were rewarded for our visit by the sight of several female ring-necked ducks with their ducklings. I was disappointed not to see a Sora Rail, since the sign at the entrance to the wetland had suggested they visit in the summer.
Dog Beaches
The dog rules on this trip started to sound like a broken record. As a rule, dogs are not allowed in parks with beaches in Kelowna. The dog owners of the city have noticed, and a city report a few years ago concluded there weren’t enough off-leash beaches to meet demand.
As a reminder, I have so far discovered dog beaches at Sutherland Bay (separate off-leash beach to the north) and Kerry Park (off-leash 6am to 9am, on-leash after 9am).
Conclusions
I hope no one minded me breaking this adventure into two parts. We had such fun with this walk that we are very much looking forward to continuing our explorations down the lakeshore.
As I mentioned in Part 1, this is all low-hanging fruit, but summer is the time to pick it. Where will I explore on my next outing? Will it be fruit once again?
As usual, I would love to hear about your experiences with these parks. Obviously, my impressions are somewhat superficial without a lifetime of Kelowna living to inform them.
Please comment below, and please read about my other adventures!
