Biking the Kettle Valley Railway Trail from Kelowna to Osoyoos - Updated for 2025

Whenever I'm sad or feeling gloomy, I only have to think about biking on the KVR (Kettle Valley Railway) and I'm instantly happy.  The hot sunny Okanagan region of British Columbia has won my heart and there is no place I'd rather spend my summer in search of new rail trails to ride with my family.

Desert riding on the KVR from Penticton to Okanagan Falls

We go to the Okanagan every summer and we've been slowly pedaling our way from Kelowna down to Osoyoos on the KVR, breaking up the trail into small manageable pieces for our now 6 year old son. When we started biking these converted railway trails, he was only 4 and we stuck to the easiest section through Myra Canyon.  Now that he's a couple years older, we are tackling harder sections and lengthening our rides.

Our first ride on the KVR in Myra Canyon, Kelowna

For maps, consult the Trail Forks website or app.

Sections on Trail Forks are below:

Map for Myra Canyon section of the KVR

Map for Penticton to Chute Lake 

Map for Penticton to Summerland 

Map for Penticton to Osoyoos 

Easy biking through orchards between Naramata and Penticton 

2025 Updates: This guide has been fully updated with many new photos and has been edited to reflect changes to the KVR trail over the years.

If you've biked the trail in previous years, one BIG thing to note with the Myra Canyon section is that every bridge has been re-decked as of 2024 and now has wooden planks fully covering the bridge surfaces, making for easier passing, and for safe two-direction traffic. When we just rode this trail, every bridge had a smooth wooden deck, fully wide enough for cyclists or hikers to pass one another, and we never had to dismount our bikes. (This is a huge change from the past where there were only planks down the middle of each bridge to cover the trestles, and you had to dismount when passing people.)

Also, on the Chute Lake to Naramata section of the KVR, the Adra Tunnel (the biggest tunnel on the trail) is now open to the public again for the first time in 40+ years. 

The longest trestle bridge on the Myra Canyon section

Myra Canyon, Kelowna (8.5 km one way to Ruth Station)

Most families will start with this section of the KVR and then quickly fall in love with the trail as I did.  It is by far the busiest section of the trail and the most touristy - for good reason.  Cyclists will bike over 18 trestle bridges and through 2 tunnels (yes, real trail tunnels) in a 8.5 km ride.  The trail is shared with hikers too and is very very crowded up to the first tunnel.  After that the crowds thin out a bit but you will never have this trail to yourself unless you start very early in the morning (not a bad idea.)

Myra Canyon 2025 showing the new bridge decks, fully resurfaced

Starting from Myra Station you will come first to Trestle #18 and then work your way down to Trestle #1 at Ruth Station in a 17 km return ride. I know it's in reverse order, but the bridges are numbered from Ruth to Myra even though most people start at Myra.

While possible to bike the full return distance, most of the trestle bridges are clustered closely together until you reach the third one.  From there to Trestle #2, there is a long gap and families with young kids will want to turn around rather than continue on to the official Ruth parking lot.

It is also possible to turn around at the second tunnel (you'll still get to ride over 8 trestle bridges.)

Biking the Myra Canyon section of the KVR is always a summer highlight

However far you choose to ride, this is an incredible bike ride, and kids will love the bridges and tunnels. The trail is relatively flat, so don't worry about needing gears on bikes, or wondering which direction is best to ride. In recent years we've started riding from Ruth Station because the parking lot is more quiet, and we get to enjoy a large section of trail without crowds before getting close to the tunnels. 

One of the tunnels on the Myra Canyon section of the KVR

For more information on this section of the KVR consult the website for Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park. There is also a great detailed map and trailhead directions on the Tourism Kelowna website. 

And, there are bike rentals at both the Myra and Ruth trailhead. This is the link to Myra Station bike rentals. Unfortunately I can't find a website for the Ruth Station rental company, but they definitely rent bikes at both. Best to reserve bikes through the company linked to here for best chance of securing rentals.

Beyond Ruth Station, the trail continues to Chute Lake, but as of 2025 we have not ridden this section. It is a rougher section, open to ATVs, very sandy at times, and best done with bigger tires I've heard. The scenery is also less inspiring with only one trestle bridge and no tunnels. We've decided to skip it so far, but we have ridden Chute Lake to Penticton (which you'll read about below.)

Second tunnel on the Myra Canyon Trail

Naramata to Penticton (10 km one way)

This has become one of my favourite sections of the trail and is definitely easy!  You'll be riding downhill at a 2.2% rail grade for most of the ride and will wonder if you were even pedaling for much of it.  Stop at wineries along the way if you want, and enjoy riding through orchards as you make your way down to Penticton.

Easy riding on the KVR from Naramata to Penticton

To access the KVR in Naramata (where you will want to start for downhill riding,) drive up the road towards Naramata and look for Arawana Road or Smethurst Road.  We started from Arawana which is one kilometre closer to Penticton.  Other than that, they are both good.  

See the Arawana parking lot on Google maps here. 

See the Smethurst parking lot on Google maps here. 

From the trailhead, it's easy to see the trail and you can choose to stop at Hillside Estate Winery if you want for lunch and drinks on their patio.  There's a sign and menu board located right on the trail with a path leading down to the winery.  (Tempting?  Yep!!)

Biking with a lunch stop at Hillside Estate Winery

And, there is now an asphalt pump track right across the road from the Hillside Estate Winery, right beside the KVR!! There's also a large parking lot here which we've used for shuttling before with my husband meeting us here when we've ridden from higher up.

Poplar Grove Pump Track

The ride from Arawana Road down to Penticton is just under 10 km one way.  We finished our ride at the Bench Market while my husband biked back up for the vehicle this year but last year we had a family member drive us back up for the truck.

For more information on this ride, visit the Tourism Penticton website. 

Biking the KVR age 5

There is also one trestle bridge on this ride, the McCulloch Trestle, located between Hillside Estate Winery and Penticton.

McCulloch Trestle Bridge, Penticton

The Little Tunnel to Naramata (12 km to Naramata or 22 km to Penticton)

This is an extension to the ride above from Naramata to Penticton and makes for a lovely 22 km bike ride from the parking lot above the Little Tunnel down to Penticton.  Alternately, it would be approximately 12 km if just riding from the Little Tunnel to Smethurst Road.

Biking through the Little Tunnel on the KVR 

Many people start at Smethurst Road and bike up to the Little Tunnel.  They then turn around and bike back down to the parking lot.  And yes, you can do that.  It would be 9 km round trip and you would not have to set up a shuttle. It's also very doable with an e-bike now that half the biking population seems to have one of them.

However, it is not a lot of fun for children to bike uphill from Smethurst to the Little Tunnel and my family is still old school (resisting the e-bike trend.)  

We always do this ride as a shuttle. My husband starts with us at the Glenfir parking lot above the Little Tunnel on the Chute Lake Road. We then ride down to the tunnel together. Afterwards upon reaching the tunnel, he rides back up for the truck, and I continue riding downhill with my son. We meet up somewhere down below either at a winery for lunch, at the pump track, or down in Penticton. And sometimes he rides back up to meet us from below.

Biking through the Little Tunnel 

The highlight of this ride is of course the Little Tunnel which should be a MUST visit spot on the KVR.

Again, for more information on this ride, visit the Tourism Penticton website. 

Little Tunnel on the KVR above Naramata

Adra Tunnel to the Little Tunnel (approx. 8 km one way)

This is the next section I recommend riding now that the Adra Tunnel is open again to the public for the first time in 40+ years! The tunnel has just opened as of 2025 and it's definitely something to see! 

Stretching 487 metres, the Adra Tunnel is the longest along the Kettle Valley Railway Trail. It has motion sensor lights and cool train sound effects inside. I recommend walking through to get your photos and videos, and then riding through after. Don't try to take videos with your phone while riding through the dark tunnel please!

And while the tunnel does have lights inside, they are triggered only as you approach them, so it's a good idea to have a headlamp with you. When we were in the cave there were a lot of people riding through so it was seldom pitch dark, but if you're alone, there will be sections that start to feel dark before the next light turns on.

Read more here on the RDOS website about the Adra Tunnel including how to access it. 

Checking out the Adra Tunnel, longest tunnel on the KVR

On our recent trip, we chose to drive to the Smethurst Staging Area to access Adra because we didn't want to ride all the way from Chute Lake. Read the next section below if you want to ride the full Chute Lake to Penticton section of the KVR.

Note that the Smethurst Staging Area is not the same parking lot that you use to access the KVR lower down. Earlier in this guide I mentioned a parking lot on Smethurst Road, but that only accesses the section of the KVR below Naramata. The Adra tunnel is very high above Naramata.

To reach this staging area you'll follow the Naramata Creek Forest Service Road, a rough gravel road that should be doable for most vehicles. From the staging area it is 750-metre hike or ride following the Sanchez trail. Note this trail would only be suitable on a mountain bike should you want to ride it. It would be an intermediate level singletrack mountain bike trail. My boys rode it, but they had to walk sections because it is quite steep on a bike. As a hike, the trail is easy.

The sign you'll see at the start of the Sanchez Trail

We visited the tunnel as a family and then my boys (husband and son) continued biking down to the Glenfir parking lot  above the Little Tunnel while I hiked back to the truck, drove down and around, and met them at Glenfir. At Glenfir I started riding as well and we all rode to the Little Tunnel together.

From the Little Tunnel my husband climbed back up, and drove down to meet us at the Wesbert Winery for lunch. All in all, everybody got to ride part of the trail that day, and most of us didn't have to do any climbing in the heat.

With e-bikes, start at the Glenfir parking lot to climb up to the Adra Tunnel. From Glenfir it's a short out and back to the Little Tunnel as well, so you can visit both tunnels in the same ride.

Alternately, start at the KVR Smethurst parking lot lower down on Smethurst Road, and climb to both tunnels.

A look inside the long Adra tunnel with motion sensor lights

Distances: 

It is approx. 8 km one way from the Adra Tunnel to the Glenfir parking lot. 

With e-bikes, you could start at Glenfir and climb to Adra in a 16 km round trip ride. Then as a short extra out and back, it is approx. 9 km round trip from the Glenfir parking lot to the Little Tunnel.

If you shuttle it, with no climbing, it is approx. 8 km from Adra to Glenfir, another 4.5 km to the Little Tunnel, and then another 9 km to the Smethurst parking lot for a total of 21.5 km (approximately.)

Continue as far as you want down the trail. We discovered that the Wesbert Winery was a great spot to meet up with my husband for lunch lower down. Exit the KVR at Riddle Road. The winery has a nice patio and serves pizza.

Wine pairs well with biking the KVR

Chute Lake to Penticton (43 km one way with options to shorten the ride)

We finally did this big ride in the summer of 2016, riding all the way from Chute Lake down to Penticton, a distance of 43 km. To be transparent though, we actually skipped the first 4 km and started just below the lake. When we got to the lake we discovered that you had to pay to park there, and we got the impression that visitors were perhaps not welcome (overnight guests much preferred.)

Fortunately, there was a nice parking lot just down from the lake and it was free. It was also a great starting point because I suspect we missed nothing in the first 4 km through the trees.

See the full route on Trail Forks here: Map for Penticton to Chute Lake 

Standing in the entrance to the Adra Tunnel

What to expect on this section:

• Lots of loose sand on the section from Chute Lake to the Little Tunnel that is quite challenging for children on small bikes.
  
  
• It was not nearly as downhill as we'd been hoping for. Honestly, it felt flat. For a very loooooong time. It's much more downhill once you reach Naramata.
  
  
• It wasn't very exciting until we reached the Adra Tunnel. The only other sight of note is that you'll pass through Rock Ovens Regional Park where you can see rock ovens that the rail workers would have used for making fresh bread each day.

All in all, it's a great ride for strong cyclists looking for a 40km ride, but unless you're prepared to climb 40 km first, it requires a shuttle. We lucked out one year with a family member staying with us in Penticton and she shuttled us. 

There are companies out there who will help you with that if you're interested. Hoodoo Adventures comes highly recommended though we haven't worked with them.

There's also an annual event called the Okanagan Trestles Tour where riders can cycle from Myra Canyon to Penticton in a day with shuttles, aid stops along the way, and a BBQ party at the end. They offer a shorter Chute to Penticton distance too.

In the future we hope to do the full ride from Myra Canyon to Penticton (roughly 76 km in length) with an overnight stay at Chute Lake Lodge.

Exploring Rock Ovens Regional Park

Summerland to Penticton (12-15 km one way) 

I had a hard time finding any information on this section of the KVR.  The Penticton Visitor Centre didn't really know much about it, and some websites even suggested it might not be open.  I did therefore what every explorer would do and set out to discover for myself what the ride was like.

We drove to the town of Summerland (north of Penticton) and followed directions I found for the Trout Creek Trestle Bridge. We were originally searching for the Fenwick Trailhead but when we got there, were told we would be biking uphill to Trout Creek.  I don't know for sure if this is true or not but it scared us off, so we just drove straight to the trestle bridge and started our ride from there.  It was easy to find and the trail started as soon as we crossed the bridge.

Biking over the Trout Creek Trestle Bridge

We crossed the trestle bridge and followed the wide easy to follow trail all the way down to the outskirts of Penticton.  We continued on the trail until we came upon a gate (where we wondered if we were supposed to pass through or not) and kept going until we came across a second gate.  We passed through it as well and ended up on the river channel in Penticton that people float down in tubes.  From the channel, we were just upstream of the halfway point where people often stop when floating beside the Gen Z Fuel Silver gas station.

Scenic riding from Summerland to Penticton

For the best map of this route, use the Trail Forks app. You do have to pay for it, but it is really the best app for cyclists and mountain bikers looking for trails. And it sure beats getting lost in the middle of nowhere! You can also share the app amongst your entire family and you don't need to download routes. They show up without WiFi or cell coverage.

Map for Penticton to Summerland 

Easy riding on the KVR from Summerland to Penticton

I loved this section of the KVR because we were riding high up on a bench overlooking Okanagan Lake and it was very scenic.  My son however did NOT like this section and probably won't do it with me again anytime soon.  He found it to be very loose, sandy and rough.  It is recommended that if you do this section that you have bigger tires (not skinny road tires) and perhaps a larger bike (my son's 20" wheels were maybe too small for the sand.)

The ride started with a bit of uphill biking (perhaps another reason my son didn't like it) but then turned flat and downhill as we got closer to Penticton.  It's the first ride on the KVR that we have done where I felt I actually had to pedal a fair bit and didn't just get to coast.

As with most of our other rides, we did the ride one way (approximately 12-15 km) and sent my husband back for the vehicle at the halfway mark.  He met us in Penticton at the gas station on the channel.

2025 disclaimer: The following is what I've been able to get from the Trail Forks app.

"The portion of the KVR between the Trout Creek Trestle (southern Summerland) and the city of Penticton is in the process of being returned to the Penticton Indian Band. Once the transfer is complete, agreements will be needed to permit future public use of the trail. Although there are no barriers to prevent users from travelling along this section of trail, they are crossing "no man's land" (not yet private property) and do so at their own risk; this segment of the KVR is not maintained or patrolled."

We haven't ridden the trail since that first time.

Downhill riding from Summerland to Penticton

Penticton to Okanagan Falls (13 km one way or shorter from Kaleden)

This is another one of my favourite sections of the KVR.

The trail starts at the far end of the Wrights Beach Camp Campground at lake level. (There is no parking here for visitors so you'll have to park nearby and ride into the campground.) The first part of the trail from Penticton is a bit overgrown and sandy so sometimes we skip it and start further along in the Town of Kaleden. The trail ends at the entrance to the town, continues on roads, and then starts again by the Ponderosa Point Resort. You'll find parking nearby at the town beach at Pioneer Park. 

Biking the KVR between Kaleden and Okanagan Falls

Starting in Kaleden actually has a couple of advantages. First, you will not have to bike through Wrights Beach Camp in Penticton, and second, you will skip the first overgrown part. 

Crossing the trestle bridge in Okanagan Falls

From Kaleden, the trail is easy and scenic as it follows the lakeshore right at lake level for most of the ride.  You will end your ride in Okanagan Falls at Kenyon Beach Park after crossing a fabulous trestle bridge (which you can jump off of!!!)

Jumping off the trestle beach before Okanagan Falls 

The full bike ride from Penticton to Okanagan Falls is approximately 13 km and we always head to Kenyon Park to cool off after.  There's a lovely splash park that feels good after the hot ride!!

Cooling off at Kenyon Park after biking the KVR to Okanagan Falls

Finally, if you're going to bike to Okanagan Falls, you MUST stop at Tickleberry's for Ice Cream.

And while this would be an easy trip to do both directions, being relatively flat the entire time, we usually do it one-way. We always camp at Wrights, so we bike one direction to Okanagan falls. My husband usually drives there and then starts to ride back to meet us. Afterwards, we continue on to go winery touring in the Oliver area.

Again, for more information on this ride, visit the Tourism Penticton website. And this section of the KVR shows up on the Trail Forks app as well. 

The best ice-cream you'll find in the Okanagan!

Oliver to Osoyoos (18.4 km one way)

I'm sure there are sections of the KVR that exist between Okanagan Falls and Oliver but we haven't explored them yet and I know that there is at least one missing link.  We chose to just drive to Oliver and continue the trail south from here.

The biking on the KVR from Oliver to Road 22 north of Osoyoos is probably the easiest biking we've done on the Kettle Valley Rail Trails.  Most of this section was paved (which is not common for the KVR,) and the trail was very straight (with barely a bend in sight.)

Starting out on the KVR trail in Oliver

The trail starts at McAlpine Bridge on the outskirts of Oliver and passes through town.  (You'll find the trail where the Highway 97 crosses the river near the EZ-Fuel Gas Station north of town.  Look for Tucelnuit Drive on this Google Maps link and you'll see the International Hike and Bike Trail shown as a gray line. (This is the name for this section of the KVR)

The first part of the ride through Oliver was the best part of the ride because we went past the town skate park in Lion's Park and biked past the Kinsmen spray park.  There was also a huge playground beside the spray park.  All in all, the town portion was awesome for kids and a lot of fun!

Biking on the Oliver Skatepark

As we left Oliver, we rode through the country side, past farms and fields, and eventually came to the end of the pavement roughly 8 km from the end.  The final part of the trail to Road 22 was on an old gravel road that paralleled the river channel.

Easy flat riding on the KVR from Oliver to Osoyoos

For more information on this section of trail continue to this link for the Oliver Hike and Bike Path.

Note that you will not reach the town of Osoyoos on this section of the KVR but will end at Road 22, approximately 12km north of Osoyoos.

Paved riding on the KVR from Oliver to Osoyoos