Originally posted by 87Ranger:
I'm hoping for some directions to some trails around Penticton. Anyone?
There are a few trails to explore on the east side of Penticton, up the Carmi Valley road. There are some major (freeway size) FSR's that hook you into the highway between Rock Creek & Kelowna, but the off-shoots from these large FSR's can be fun.
In spring the roads further up on the plateau can get pretty muddy, so be prepared for recovery if you trundle down side roads and find standing water.
Depending on the year, you can find some washed out roads in and around Canyon Lake (and the fishing is excellent - take your "Off"!). You can't be too worried about your paint as some of these roads are overgrown with alder.
An alternative to the Carmi road access to the higher plateau roads is the Greyback Lake road. You'll find it by heading northeast of Penticton, off the highway that goes to Naramata - I can't recall the name of the road you take to get onto Greyback Lake road, but it's not that hard to find. There are a couple of off-shoots from that road that will test your metal. I recall going down one mossy road beside a creek, crossing the creek at the bottom and confronting some huge tank-traps that had been made 1/2 ways driveable by previous folks. That'd all be under snow at this time of year, but it'd be fun to explore if you have another truck with you in the summer. I have no idea where the road ends up, but it kept going up, so I assume you'd get to the top of a mountain sooner or later.
Even the deactivated roads up behind Chute Lake can prove challenging and fun - and the views are nice.
I've had great fun exploring in and around Penticton - there are a couple of short trails to be had on the backroads southwest of Penticton (up and around the observatory - which is a neat little side-trip if you've got your family with you). Be careful to stay on marked roads/trails up in that area as much of it is now designated a "wilderness preserve" because of its unique ecosystem.
Go exploring. You'll be amazed at what you find.
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DMMcG
'98 XJ