Okanagan and Thompson
Working out where to go? Browse the trip reports by objective for this area, and check the forecast before you commit.
Hot and dry, and the one region here where summer heat is more likely to shape a trip than snow. Campgrounds book through BC Parks and fill early.
Campgrounds — BC Parks
- Okanagan Lake — north of Summerland, on the lake
- Cathedral Park — core-area camping in the high country west of Keremeos, reached on foot or by the lodge's 4×4 shuttle
- Wells Gray — north of Kamloops, and a long day from anywhere else on this page
Kalamalka Lake, near Vernon, is day use only — worth it for the trails, but there is no camping in the park.
Hostels
Huts — the Alpine Club of Canada has none in the Okanagan.
Recreation sites
There are more recreation sites here than in any other region on this list, but it is worth being clear about what they are. Almost all sit on fishing lakes on the plateau rather than at a trailhead, so they are a cheap bed and a place to swim, not a basecamp under a peak. First come, first served, cash only. See how it works for the rules.
The larger ones, all fee sites: Lundbom Lake (102 sites, Merritt), Duffy Lake (54, Kamloops), Paska Lake (49, Logan Lake), Evely (48, Vernon) and Harmon Lake (32, Merritt). The Mabel Lake and Enderby sites are on the Shuswap and the Monashees page.
The full set is best browsed on the site and trail search filtered to this area — with this many, a list here would go stale faster than it would help. Wildfire closures are the thing to check: sites west of Kelowna are still shut or partly shut following the 2023 McDougall Creek fire.