ES Okanagan’s Favourite Things To Do!

Kelowna is a vacation town, so many of you are familiar with the highest profile vacation activities; wine tours, beaches and ski hills. But what do we locals get up to after work and on weekends? Here are some of our favourite pastimes, including the obligatory winery.

One of our family’s favourite places to visit is the Kangaroo Creek Farm.  With their new location near the North end of the Kelowna airport, it’s a fun place to explore that’s only a little over 5 minutes drive away from the UBC Okanagan campus. The Kangaroo Creek Farm closes for the winter but usually will re-open each year around mid March. Check out their website for more info: http://kangaroocreekfarm.com/ (7 min from campus) –  Jackie

A favourite pastime is to take a stroll or a bike ride through the Mission Creek Greenway – beautiful in any season (15 min from campus) – Doreen 

Getting out on my cruiser bike to go biking on all the new paths through Kelowna, including the rail trail (15 seconds from campus / 30 mins by bike to the pic)  – Jenny

It takes approximately 42-44 minutes to get from campus by bike to any of these breweries: Kettle River, Redbird, Rustic Reel and Vice and Virtue (all along the protected and beautiful Rail to Trail path). Also along this path – my favorite sushi restaurant in Kelowna – Yama Kitchen. (20 min from campus [by car]) – Halyna

I love going out for brunch on the weekend and Sunny’s modern diner has one of the best. Downtown, across the street from the lake, and a great patio in summer. It’s small but worth the wait (20 min from campus) – Fred

The beauty of the Okanagan is not lost at the many mountain lakes. Within an hour’s drive you can find dozens – below is one of our favourite fishing spots: Beaver Lake, Lake Country (35 min from campus) – Doreen

My favorite thing to do is take road trips around the Okanagan Valley. My favorite road trip is driving to the northern Okanagan via Westside road. Travelling Westside road you may see many different animals such as Mountain goats, deer, bears, eagles, and porcupines. You can also stop at a place called Fintry Falls and hike down to gorgeous waterfalls. Views of Okanagan Lake surround you. It is absolutely breathtaking (2 hour loop that passes right by the campus) – Nikki

Who likes powder? I do! And this year at Silver Star Mountain Resort has been amazing. When I am not at work and there is snow on the ground it is very likely that you will find me (and my kids) ripping up the mountain. This beautiful family oriented resort is located in Vernon (45 mins from campus) – Jay

My favourite things to do close to campus include making a visit to Kangaroo Creek Farm (yes, actual kangaroos!); parking at the end of the runway at YLW and watching planes pass overhead as they come in for landing, and taking a walk through Dilworth Mountain Park for some of the best views of the city! – Lindsay

Things that can be done within 15 minutes of campus which I have enjoyed doing are: going to Grand 10 for movies (cheap Tuesdays!), visiting McCurdy Bowling Centre for neon lights bowling or Scandia Arcade for GoKart races. I also enjoy going for a walk at Mission Creek Regional Park, swimming at the YMCA, or picking up baked goods at Speciality Bakery. – Sanchari