Kelowna Parks Challenge – Trip #30
This week, as part of my Kelowna Parks Challenge, I travelled to the Gopher Valley in eastern Kelowna. There I explored five parks that highlighted local geographical features, such as Gopher Creek, Garner Pond, and Mount Kirschner.
Read on for my impressions and reflections!
The Trip
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Lequime Ranch was one of the largest in Kelowna. It stretched from Mission Creek, across the river from the old Mission, where the Hall Road neighbourhood is now, east across the KLO Benches, back across to the north side of Mission Creek and all the way to the southern slopes of Black Mountain. In the early twentieth century, when the family finally sold their lands to the KLO Company for development as orchards, that company immediately sold the eastern half of the property to the Belgo Canadian Fruit Lands Company. It is this company that subdivided and sold the land to orchardists, and who started the Black Mountain Irrigation District in order to supply the properties with water.
The western half of that land comprises Belgo proper, as it is called today. It is a rolling agricultural terrace, nearly identical to the KLO Benches across the Mission Creek canyon to the west. The eastern half of the land is marked by large hills, such as Mine Hill and Kirschner Mountain, as well as the course of Gopher Creek.
The waters of Gopher Creek come from the west side of Black Mountain, collecting first in Gopher Flats, which is the strip of land lying between Black Mountain and Mine Hill. From there, the creek flows around the south side of Mine Hill, between that hill and Kirschner Mountain. After that, it turns north and heads towards Rutland, where it enters the city storm sewers to eventually drain into the Chichester Wetlands. Interestingly, maps from the end of the nineteenth century show Gopher Creek turning to the south after leaving the hills and flowing into Mission Creek.
Belgo Park
This neighbourhood park is the largest park in southeast Rutland, with the possible exception of Lions Park. Its size is mostly due to the fact that it is home to a baseball diamond, but it also has a playground in its southwest corner.
Gopher Creek runs under the middle of this park, after entering a storm sewer less than a block to the south. In the southeast corner of the park, local groundwater collects into a somewhat neglected pond, whose waters immediately enter a storm sewer pipe of their own and soon join with the waters of Gopher Creek.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is a permanent washroom in this park. It is closed in the winter.
Dog Rules: Because it has a playground and sportsfield but no trails, dogs are not allowed in this park.
James Hockey Park
The main feature of this park is the long walkway that connects the cul-de-sacs of James Hockey Place and Ackerman Court. Below the asphalt trail, however, the entire slope down to the backyards of the houses along Bentien Road is also part of this park. No trails or features have been developed on the lower slope, leaving it feeling like a secret vestigial appendage.
James Hockey Park is the only park in the Toovey Heights neighbourhood, which occupies the western slope of Mine Hill. It provides its local residents with a great pedestrian connection.
Dog Rules: On-leash dogs are allowed on the walkway only.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Garner Pond Park
This park occupies the south bank of Garner Pond. It is an odd shape and doesn’t have any “improvements” such as a playground, a picnic table, or even a bench. Its only feature is a piece of waterworks infrastructure, which, I assume, helps regulate the flow of water from the pond to Gopher Creek, which runs to the southwest.
This pond collects stormwater from part of the south slope of Mine Hill and is famously home to endangered painted turtles. From Garner Pond, they make their way southwest to Belgo Pond, and signs in the area warn drivers to be careful of them in the summer months.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because of the sensitive pond and the lack of trails, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Bella Vista Park
This park is the only park, so far, on Kirschner Mountain, and has an amazing view. This is a steep park and from its top, a visitor can see all of the benches to the east, both Belgo and KLO, with the narrow ribbon of the Mission Creek Canyon running through them.
This park features a great playground as well as a steep trail that leads from Bella Vista Street at the bottom to Loseth Road at the top. The trail continues up the hill through additional parkland that has not yet been labelled.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: On-leash dogs are allowed on the trail in this park, but not in the playground area.
Black Mountain Park
This park appears to be a well-established fact on the city’s website but is not well-labelled on the ground. If anything, it appears to be a continuation of the Gopher Creek Linear Park, which continues to the west. The city map, however, confirms that this park is more than just a dyke trail and bridge. It combines three formerly residential properties into one large park, with the trail running through the middle.
Besides the trail, Black Mountain Park does not have any “improvements” but features an excellent wetland area, which I hope will thrive in the future and be allowed to reach a natural equilibrium within the borders provided.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: On-leash dogs are only allowed on the trail in this park.
Reflections
The five parks I explored this week showed me a lot about the different ways parks are chosen and developed. Three of the parks were neighbourhood parks and two exist to protect valuable wetlands.
To start with, James Hockey Park and Bella Vista Park both appeared to be the kind of neighbourhood parks that were included in a subdivision both because of city law and to increase the subdivision’s attractiveness to potential residents. In both cases, the parks were designed to provide pedestrian connections between local streets.
Belgo Park might have been developed in the same way, but I am not certain. Given the way Belgo Road curves around the lot, plus the pond and the fact that the Gopher Creek storm sewer runs through the middle of the park, I wonder if there isn’t more to the history of that property than simple developer compliance with city park provision quotas.
Garner Pond Park and Black Mountain Park, on the other hand, both appear to be former residential or agricultural properties that have been acquired by the city in order to gain access to valuable environmental features. In the case of Garner Pond, that access seems to be designed to be mostly for the benefit of turtles and waterworks personnel, while in Black Mountain Park it seems to be mostly for the benefit of people engaged in “active transportation”. Either way, I am delighted to see any steps taken to protect wetlands, ponds, and creeks.
Conclusion
This week’s adventure took me to a somewhat farther corner of Kelowna than many of my previous adventures have. I was glad for the opportunity to get to know the Belgo area and to start to learn about Gopher Creek. I look forward to someday exploring more of the Gopher Creek Linear Park.
In terms of my challenge, five parks in one week puts me slightly ahead of pace. Including this week’s parks, I have now visited one hundred thirty-one parks in two hundred thirty-four days or 64.5% of the parks in 64.1% of the days. Dare I visit only three parks next week? You and I will both have to wait and see!
Best view in the town !