Kelowna Parks Challenge – Trip #9
On the first of October, I went on an adventure with my wife, Jen, to Mission Creek Regional Park, as part of my Kelowna Parks Challenge. Although I normally try to visit several parks in one day, this park was big enough that it was the only park we saw that day.
In fact, though we saw most of the park, we did not have time to see the entire thing and will be going back to see the rest on our next adventure.
Nevertheless, I saw a lot of great vistas and features and am excited to share my impressions and reflections with you!
The Trip
Mission Creek Regional Park has a great, natural feel, but is very easily accessible. It is located in the middle of Kelowna and we were able to take a bus right to the front of the park.
We chose to visit this park in autumn because we knew the leaves would be turning, but it turned out there was another reason to visit at this time of year. The kokanee salmon were there, spawning in the creek and in the spawning channel!
There are six designated trails in the park and we had time to complete four of them. We explored the western half of the park, including the upland areas south of the creek, rolling hills covered with pine forests and dotted with ponds. Next time we will take the long trail to the east, along the left bank of the creek.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is a drinking fountain in this park. It is on the outside of the washroom building by the main parking lot and playground. It has a water bottle tap. There are two washrooms in this park. By the main parking lot, there is a permanent washroom building. There is also a portable washroom at the parking lot by the children’s fishing pond, at the south side of the park.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash. Reminder: letting dogs into the creek kills thousands of baby salmon.
Kokanee Spawning Channel
Everywhere in BC, salmon are critical to the health of the ecosystems. Therefore, much effort has been made in the province to encourage their continued abundance. Because Mission Creek was dyked and channelized a hundred years ago in order to stop its annual floods from wreaking havoc with the agricultural settlements in its valley, it has become less hospitable to these essential fish. Therefore, when Mission Creek Regional Park was developed in the 1970s a parallel channel was put in to provide an ideal environment for salmon spawning.
In the Okanagan Valley, the local salmon are kokanee, a variety that no longer make their way to the ocean to live their adult lives. Visiting the spawning channel in the autumn, the visitor can see the fish crowding the stream, struggling against the current or losing the strength to go on and being swept away.
The trail along the channel is the shortest in the park. It is close to the parking lot and basically flat. It is no less beautiful for all that and might be enough to justify a visit on its own.
Turtle Pond and Evelyn Island
There are several ponds in this park, as there are in many of the foothills around Kelowna. Turtle Pond, however, has an eponymous trail leading to it and is adorned with the charming Evelyn Island. The island is tiny and bears a plaque commemorating its namesake. I assume the pond is home to the local painted turtle, but I only saw mallard ducks on our visit.
The pond is a popular destination for park visitors. In fact, once we left the areas along Turtle Pond Trail, which leads straight here from the parking lot, we saw far fewer people on the trails. Also, one visitor we met told us the island is her favourite part of the park.
Children’s Fishing Pond
This pond is designed as an area to teach children, or anyone else, to fish. It has a path and a low fence all around it and is stocked with rainbow trout every year. from mid-May to the end of June only children and the disabled are allowed to fish here.
The fishing pond is located in the southeast corner of the park, on the opposite side from the main parking lot, but you don’t have to hike through the woods to get there. Situated along Hall Road, there is a convenient second parking lot and portable washroom right beside it.
Reflections
History
One of the most interesting things about visiting Mission Creek Regional Park was seeing the layers of history present. Even since the 1970s, when the land was developed as a park, there have clearly been several successive attempts to mark out official trails and label interesting features. In some places you can see forty-year-old signs that are still maintained, but in other places there are signposts without signs and condemned viewing platforms.
The history of the site goes back farther than four decades, of course, and in several places you can see signs of the way the site was used for most of the twentieth century. Some of the official park trails lie along old private roads, and in some parts of the park grassy meadows are dotted with well-weathered stumps. One of my favourite signs was a large, old weeping willow we saw growing in the middle of a forest of native tree species.
Creeks
When I look at a landscape, creeks and streams are one of the main organizational features I latch onto. They tell us a lot about the history and ecology of an area. You may have noticed I rarely fail to mention the creeks I cross or travel along.
Mission Creek, as the largest stream in the Kelowna region, has had a lot to do over the years with the post-glacial geological history of the area, as well as the post-contact colonial settlement patterns in the area. I am glad the salmon still run there, and I was very glad to visit it and celebrate it.
Regional Parks
Mission Creek is the first regional park I have visited as part of the Kelowna Parks Challenge. Run in partnership with the Central Okanagan Regional District, I was interested to see if there would be a difference in management styles or development compared to Kelowna City Parks.
Because the regional parks are fewer and larger, I expect them to protect and celebrate more significant natural features and resources. In Mission Creek, I was not disappointed. There are a few other regional parks on my Official List, and I look forward to visiting them.
Conclusions
Technically, I did not check a park off my list this week, since my visit to Mission Creek Regional Park was incomplete. I am not rattled since this was expected. I look forward to completing this park and adding a few more on my next adventure.
Nevertheless, time has passed. I have now seen forty-five of the 203 parks on the list in seventy-two days, or 22% of the parks in 20% of the year. I don’t anticipate improving that rate next week, but at least I am not behind. Soon it will be time to plan an adventure with many visits.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about Mission Creek Regional Park. Please, comment if you have anything to add.
