Exploring Two Parks in South Kelowna

Kelowna Parks Challenge Trip #6

This week I was able to get out and explore two parks in South Kelowna as part of the Kelowna Parks Challenge. The density of parks in that neighbourhood is low, so I used a car to get to both of them, but one of them, in particular, provided an excellent opportunity for walking and forest bathing.

The parks visited were the Jean Road Trails and South Kelowna Centennial Park. Read on for my impressions and reflections.

The Trip

As you can see from the Kelowna Parks Challenge Map, there aren’t a lot of parks in South Kelowna. Furthermore, they are some of the most difficult to get to by bus. That is why my wife, Jen, and I took a car this week. That is also why we only visited two parks on this adventure.

Jean Road Trails

The first park we visited isn’t technically a park at all, as it turns out. You won’t find it on Google Maps and you won’t find it on the map of parks and beaches on the Kelowna city website; however, if you are on that site and you switch to list view, you will find it listed.

This property, which you can find at 4075 Jean Road, aka the end of the road, is owned by the city but has not been zoned as parkland. It has the basic agricultural zoning common to all the undeveloped parcels that surround Kelowna, but it is not part of British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve. Though it shows signs of former ownership, such as old roads and cut trees, it has never been subdivided.

The property is lightly maintained by the city as a recreational property. There are many trails there, but none appear to have been made officially. The only features we saw were signs by the pond forbidding dogs from entering the precious turtle habitat and a couple of bat boxes on a pole near the pond.

The entire property consists of gently rolling hills covered in Ponderosa Pine forest. Near the southern side, there is a pond where we saw ducks and duckweed along with many sunken trees. A trail circumscribes it along a ridge to the south, and this land has also been purchased by the city.

The trail network in the park connects to additional trails that travel south and southeast. I would guess they lead to the end of Miller Road, to Gallaghers Forest South, and to the powerline cut. Maybe someday I’ll return for another adventure here.

Jean Road Reservoir

In the northwest corner of the park, the city is building a new reservoir, as part of the Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan. Because the Jean Road property is already owned by the city but is not technically a park, it was seen as the perfect location to construct a necessary new piece of infrastructure. Right now it looks like a mound of dirt and a hole in the ground, but the finished reservoir has been designed to sit low in the earth and be unobtrusive.

Because none of the paths in the wood are official, no effort was made to reroute the one that lead right through the construction site, as we discovered when trying to follow it.

We spent an hour and a half exploring this park, but many shorter trips are possible, given the various loops that can be made with the trails here.

Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There are no drinking fountains in this park. There are no washrooms in this park.

Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed on-leash only in this park. Because it is known painted turtle habitat, dogs are not allowed in the pond.

South Kelowna Centennial Park

Though a visit to the Jean Road Trails was enough to satisfy for one afternoon, I’m doing a challenge here, and I was not about to miss the chance to visit the park that is perhaps the most isolated from the others.

South Kelowna Centennial Park is an athletic park and valuable civic amenity for the South Kelowna community. Surrounding South Kelowna Elementary School, it has a softball field and two soccer fields. Despite aspiring to an athletically-appropriate planar quality, this park has not eliminated all of its rolling hills. I was also delighted to discover the start of a ravine in the park’s northwest corner. Maps suggest it could hold a tributary of Rumohr Creek, but I haven’t seen any reports of running water at its bottom.

Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: I did not find a drinking fountain in this park. There are washrooms in this park. The sign says they are open until dusk year-round. Unfortunately, when we were there around 5pm in the summer, both bathrooms were locked.

Dog Rules: Despite this park being mostly playing fields, dogs are allowed on-leash in this park.

Reflections

Unofficial Trails

My visit to Jean Road Trails highlighted an issue that I’m sure will continue to come up during my challenge, especially when I visit parks on the edge of town: unofficial trails.

When I was a boy, I thought nothing of travelling along any trail I could find. Each one was an opportunity for exploration and adventure. As I got older, I learned that too many illegal trails in a fragile ecosystem can be hard on it. The safest thing for the landscape is for all visitors to stick to the designated paths. The Jean Road Trails presented me with a distinct grey area with regards to this ethical situation.

Since the property is not a park, no official trails have been developed. This means the only trails one can travel are unofficial. Nevertheless, the city openly makes the property available for recreational purposes, implying they don’t mind the use of these trails, despite the preciousness of the pine forest habitat.

My conclusion is that it must be considered okay to use these pre-existing trails on properties that have not been developed. It is certainly better than leaving them and tromping over hitherto undamaged plant communities.

Looking at satellite imagery of the wild spaces around Kelowna, it is clear these unofficial trails can be found outside of parks all around the city. Since I am focused on visiting parks, at the moment, I don’t know how often this ethical conundrum will present itself, but I’m sure I will encounter it again in my future ramblings. I guess my chief concern is making sure I’m not trespassing. After all, we don’t have a right to roam, as they do in Britain.

Conclusion

Even though we only visited two parks on this trip, it was a rewarding adventure, and a great excuse to explore South Kelowna. The Jean Road Trails make for a wonderful ramble through the woods. Furthermore, every adventure gets me closer to my goal, even if it were only to be to one park.

Now I have visited fifteen percent of Kelowna’s parks in ten percent of the year. My pace is about the same as last week, and I am not yet frightened of failure. Still, the summer is ending, routines are changing… Stay tuned to see how I do.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my latest adventure. Please leave a comment below if you have a special connection to either of the parks I explored this time!