Kelowna Parks Challenge – Trip #36
This week, as part of my Kelowna Parks Challenge, I visited the scenic neighbourhood of McKinley Landing. Though it is a small community, it lies along the lakeshore and there are a surprising number of parks there. Because there are so many, I have divided my trip into two parts. This week, I’ll be sharing with you my explorations of the five beach access parks on Dewdney Road.
Read on for my impressions and reflections!
The Trip
McKinley Landing is a small community that lies along the east shore of Okanagan Lake, to the north of Knox Mountain and Downtown Kelowna. Another way to locate it is to say that it sits on the other side of the Glenmore Highlands from the Glenmore Valley. Currently, unless they are arriving by water, the visitor to the area has to drive north through Glenmore and around the north end of the Highlands to get there. It won’t be long, however, before another connection will be made, from the north end of Clifton Road.
The spot was settled in 1896 by one John McKinley from Ontario. According to Wikipedia, he lived there for thirty years, and his property was a popular landing for the CPR steamships, whose crews could stock up on wood fuel there. I don’t know how many people lived there after Mr. McKinley passed on, but at some point over forty years ago, the local hillside was subdivided and the area became a popular retreat for those who had the resources to build luxurious lakeside houses. As I have seen in many other waterfront subdivisions of a similar age in Kelowna, lots were set aside to provide the public with access to the shore. As I discovered on my adventure this week, not all of those beach access parks have been developed yet.
Today, that remote subdivision remains, with only a firehall and community park to mark its centre, but expansion has begun. To the north, the new subdivision of McKinley Beach is currently being sold, and to the south, zoning has already been arranged for modern, conservation-minded subdivisions to be carved out of the forested hillside. Sooner or later, these neighbourhoods will blend together with development creeping up from the south, and in time they are meant to crawl up and over the central ridge of the Highlands, connecting with Wilden on the other side.
Dewdney Road Beach Access #1
This is possibly the most beautiful park currently developed in McKinley Landing. Because it is located at the south end of the subdivision, it blends almost seamlessly with the forest and shore to the south, making it appear much larger than it is.
The park currently has a picnic table in the woods, a slightly tilted portable washroom, and a trail, complete with a beautiful wooden staircase, down to the beach. A local resident told me there was recently a dock there, which the city is in the process of replacing. Much of the land surrounding this park has been zoned as parkland and will likely be added to this park more formally when the area is more strictly subdivided.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is a portable washroom in this park, near the picnic table.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on a leash.
Dewdney Road Beach Access #2
This park is one of those that have not yet been developed. The photo above shows the park’s southern property line, which comprises the only remaining continuously vegetated corridor on this lot from the street to the water. Much of the upper quarter of the park has been encroached on by the property to the north, for use as a driveway and parking space.
I was not able to see a path through this park down to the beach, and I did not want to trespass through the lots on either side to search for one. As far as I could see, this park has no features.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because this park is primarily a beach, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Dewdney Road Beach Access #3
This park also appears not to have been developed as a park, per se. Though I could not find a public path from the street into the park, I noted a utility road into the property, starting from the property to the north.
Because I was unwilling to trespass, I did not follow the road. Satellite photos suggest it leads to a small building by the water, possibly a treatment facility for local water. Other than that, this park appears to have no features.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because this park is primarily a beach, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Dewdney Road Beach Access #4
This beach access park has been developed. It is well-signed and is being maintained. Though it is encroached near the top by the driveway for the property to the north, a clear path leads around the pavement and down to the water’s edge.
In addition, this park features a grassy clearing with a picnic table, halfway down. It has a pleasant mix of open and forested areas.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because this park is primarily a beach, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Dewdney Roach Beach Access #5
Like parks 2 and 3, this property also awaits development. During my exploration, I found no path to the water, let alone any other features.
Unlike parks 2 and 3, this property appears to have little or no encroachment from the adjoining yards, and is still covered by a delightful patch of native vegetation.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because this park is primarily a beach, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Reflections
I will admit that I have been looking forward very much to my explorations of McKinley Landing. Looking at maps and photographs of the neighbourhood, I found it impossible to determine which beach access parks, if any, had actually been developed. Since I had been pleasantly surprised last year to find that the Poplar Point Beach Access features a beautiful trail leading to a charming beach, I knew I was not guaranteed a disappointment.
Of course, none of this week’s five parks were a disappointment in the sense that all five of them represented land that has been put aside for public recreation. Even though a few of them haven’t been developed, I am comforted by the fact that the option to do so remains. I know that McKinley Landing has an active residents association, and I know the local residents will advocate for their own local recreational facilities.
Conclusions
With the addition of this week’s five parks, I have now seen one hundred and sixty-two of the two hundred three parks on the Official List, in two hundred seventy-nine days, or 80% of the parks in 76% of the days. I had hoped to see all of McKinley landing in one trip, but circumstances, including the weather, conspired to cut things short. Nevertheless, five parks in a week is slightly ahead of pace, so things are going well.
My intention is to explore the rest of McKinley Landing next week. So, if you are as intrigued as I as to what more might be found there, you only have to wait seven sleeps!
