New Kalamalka Lake trail to connect Vernon with Lake Country | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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New Kalamalka Lake trail to connect Vernon with Lake Country

Kalamalka Lake

VERNON - The pieces are coming together for a multi-purpose path that would trace the shoreline of Kalamalka Lake all the way from Vernon to Lake Country.

The Board of Directors for the Regional District of North Okanagan voted Wednesday to pay for the $250,000 to $350,000 trail through the Community Works Fund. The route would start near Okanagan College and follow Kalamalka Lake Drive, continue along the north end of Kekuli Bay Provincial Park, along the south side of Highway 97 until it reached Crystal Waters Road, covering about 15 kilometers of ground. 

"A lot of the trail will be on existing roadway," director Bob Fleming says. " All of it is on the Ministry of Highways right of way and they have provisionally agreed to the use."

The areas that aren't paved will be either graded and surfaced with compacted gravel or built up with boardwalks.

"It's just beautiful, the whole thing is right above the lake," Fleming, who championed the project, says. "It provides connectivity to Lake Country, and they're working the other way. They're being given the old highway and are working north. One day I'd like to see you be able to walk or cycle off highway all the way to the bridge in Kelowna."

A distance away from the existing highway, the path would be quiet and scenic, taking in the picturesque views of Kalamalka lake.

"It would be a huge tourist attraction," Fleming says. "It's something you have to go on to appreciate."

Director Mike Macnabb couldn't agree more.

"It's got some fantastic views," Macnabb says. "It would be a wonderful thing to have an inter-regional trail where, if you wanted to bike to Kelowna, you could."

The trail has been approved as a sub-regional park, so it will have access to Greater Vernon cash flow for upkeep and maintenance down the road.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.

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