Kelowna Parks Challenge – Trip #16
This week I explored seven Kelowna city parks as part of the Kelowna Parks Challenge. I travelled to North Glenmore and had an adventure both there and in the adjacent Glenmore Highlands. The first snow of the year had fallen the day before, and everywhere I went I found delightful white vistas.
Read on for my impressions and reflections.
The Trip
I started off at the bottom of the Glenmore Valley but up at the north end. This was not far from Millard Glen Park, where I started my Brandt’s Creek adventure. Here I explored a few parks in the vicinity that had been skipped on that trip because they did not lie along the creek.
From there I headed up Union Road into the highlands. There I found new suburban streets in the foothills, built around small mountain lakes. It reminded me of Magic Estates both in how picturesque and how car-dependent it is.
Glenmore Road North Greenspace
I started my adventure in this narrow but large park. It lies along the busy Glenmore Road and is separated by a low, black chainlink fence from the wide multi-modal path that marks the Glenmore Active Transportation Corridor.
Even considering the possibility that I missed something hiding beneath the snow, this park appears to have no distinguishing features. It is a separate lot, not part of the road right-of-way, and is still zoned as agricultural land. I did notice a prominent storm drain in the centre of the field, so it is likely this land is expected to collect floodwaters and direct them towards the nearby creek.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because it has no trails and is not an official dog park, dogs are not allowed in this park, despite its seeming suitability.
Naito Park
A short distance away, Naito Park is a wonderful neighbourhood park. A typical size, with an excellent corner lot location, it is notable for its admirable density of features.
In addition to a playground and picnic table, it also has a basketball court/skatepark, complete with a squarish asphalt mound similar to the one in Matera Glen Park. This doesn’t leave a lot of room for a grassy playing field, but this park is very near both North Glenmore Elementary and Dr. Knox Middle School, so a large field is easy to find in the neighbourhood.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because it is taken up with playgrounds, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Wyndham Park
Though this park is not smaller than many neighbourhood parks, it is so dominated by its main feature that it feels impossible to call it one. Nearly the entirety of this park is taken up by a deluxe walkway, connecting Glenmore Road with Wyndham Crescent. Lined by plane trees and wide grassy verges, it is difficult to imagine using this park for anything but passing through.
Nevertheless, despite its lack of a playground or picnic table, there is nothing to stop someone from spending time relaxing in this park.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash.
Terrace Hill Park
Heading up the hill into the newer subdivisions of the Wilden project, I came to this lovely neighbourhood park. Built on a hill out of a spare lot, this park makes no attempt to provide a playing field. Its main features are a switchback path that connects Terrace Hill Place at the bottom to Terrace Hill Court at the top and a small playground that sits in the middle.
I, of course, appreciated the way the native woodland had been left unaltered in most of the park. I would love to come here in the summer and climb through this space, perhaps on the way to the head of the unsanctioned trail that leads from the upper cul-de-sac towards Knox Mountain Park – East.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash.
Still Pond Park
This park illustrates better than any the aesthetic principles of the extensive Wilden development project. Here, two small mountain lakes have been preserved, along with their surrounding slopes, while roads and housing have been built around and above them. As we saw in Magic Estates, this conservation-minded subdivision design ensures both that residents will have access to natural spaces and that local plants and animals will still have green corridors to travel so they can access important resources and maintain genetic diversity in their populations.
This is a beautiful park and a joy to walk in. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t just because of the scenic snowfall, either. I would be happy to come back in the summer to walk this trail. It’s a bit of a shame the trail doesn’t go around the lakes completely, but, to be fair, the other side is rather steep.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is a drinking fountain in this park, located at the south end of Still Pond. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash.
Hidden Lake Park
Here is another neighbourhood park par excellence. Occupying a triangular lot, this park is dominated by a playground that is highly visible from many nearby houses.
Half a block away from Still Pond Park, this area already feels more suburban and less wild; however, the sight of forested peaks rising above the surrounding detached houses reminded me that this suburb is off in the mountains.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash.
Begbie Park
On the opposite side of Hidden Lake from Still Pond Park, this park is an example of a natural space that was left for conservation purposes. Except for the frontage along Begbie Road, most of this park comprises a steep slope that leads from residential lots above right down to the waters of Hidden Lake, with no beach at the bottom. As such it was not suitable to build on, but is nice to look at from across the water.
As yet, this park is undeveloped, and I do not know if it ever will be. I followed an unsanctioned path through the park, along the front of the hillside, but it was a risky undertaking. With the grade of the slope and the snow on the ground, I was careful not to slip and slide all the way into the icy waters. It is possible the city could someday widen this path and connect it with the one in Still Pond Park.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash.
Reflections
Winter
This was my first real winter adventure and my first post with pictures of snowy parks. I will admit I was nervous about that. Not about exploring in the snow, of course. I am happy to explore in any weather. Even a walk in the rain has its special charms.
I was worried that the parks I am showing, which look so effortlessly good in the sunshine, would be harder to show off under winter skies. Please, leave me a comment and let me know how I did.
Wilden
This was my first adventure exploring part of the Wilden development. This wide-ranging project promises to continue to transform the Glenmore Highlands for a couple more decades. The city has decided to stop allowing far-flung car-dependent hillside development because it is expensive to maintain and is unlikely to densify to the point where it will pay for itself, but developments like Wilden that are already underway will be allowed to be built out to completion.
Unlike in Magic Estates, which seems to have been a practice run at Wilden, I passed lots above Still Pond that have been zoned for a school and commercial centre. This will help sustain this suburb and contribute to a community feel. Nevertheless, since it is unlikely everyone in the neighbourhood will be employed at the local shops, most people who live here will have to commute by car for the foreseeable future.
I was encouraged to see that there are a lot of duplexes and townhouses being built here. Perhaps in the future there will be enough demand that the city can run a bus through this area, as they have with Dilworth Mountain.
Conclusion
Seven parks in one trip is a lot, but I felt the need to get ahead of my pace again after sliding a bit last week. With these parks I have now seen eighty of the two hundred and three parks in one hundred thirty-four days, or 39% of the parks in 37% of the year.
