An early autumn stroll along the Osoyoos Canal

Before it reached Osoyoos Lake, just north of the Canada/US border in the interior of British Columbia, the Okanagan River once snaked southwards through a series of oxbows, flowing through a wetland that was made special by being flanked by desert. In order to control the river, and facilitate the irrigation of the agricultural land that developed on the valley floor, the river was canalised in 1923. Fortunately some of the wetlands have survived and have been conserved since the 1980s as a vitally-important nature reserve.

The trail beside the canal offers a level walking and running route that provides glimpses of the arid hills to the east, and pasture to the west.

My Osoyoos Canal album can be found here.


