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Okanagan
Mountain Provincial Park
History
Established
August 23, 1973.
Cultural
Heritage
The
colourful history of the Okanagan Valley is very evident in the
park. There are archaeological
sites and provincially significant First Nations pictographs found
on rock outcrops and canyon walls. At one time, the local Salish
Indians used Wild Horse Canyon as a wild-horse trap.
Historic trails
form part of the current trail network, some dating back to 1860,
when Father Pandosy established an oblate mission
near Kelowna. Settlers used
a trail through Wild Horse Canyon, but finding the south end of the trail
crossed extremely rough and rocky country, Father Pandosy instituted
a better trail
higher up to the east. Goode’s Creek Canyon Trail was
named for Dave Goode, supplier of survey crews for the Kettle
Valley
Railway, built in 1915. Commando Bay was
used to secretly train Chinese-Canadians for guerrilla warfare in 1944, during
World War II.
Little remains
at the crash site of a DC3 passenger plane that went down in
December of 1950 roughly one kilometre northeast of Divide Lake. The
two CP Air pilots
died in the crash, while 16 others on board were rescued by local search
and rescue teams. There is no trail access to the site.
Conservation
The
park is a representative example of the Okanagan Basin and Okanagan
Highlands. The terrain ranges from the deeply incised melt water
channels of Goode Creek and Wildhorse Canyon to the 1579m high Okanagan
Mountain with spectacular examples of heavily glaciated rock terrain
including classic rock drumlins, grooves, flutes and striations.
The park encompasses ecosystems from three different biogeoclimatic
zones: the bunchgrass zone in some of the lower but more exposed
areas, the ponderosa pine zone in much of the lower elevations and
the interior Douglas fir zone on the upper mountain reaches. Significant
old growth Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, Lodgepole pine and Engelmann
spruce covers more than 2500 hectares. The park’s plant life
represents the influence of both the dry southern and wetter northern
climates. The park protects a significant portion of undeveloped
lakeshore along Okanagan Lake.
Wildlife
The variety of ecosystems
represented in the park leads to an abundance of wildlife that
is surprising in an area so close to
Kelowna. The rugged rocky terrain is habitat for mountain goats.
White-tailed deer, moose, elk, lynx, marten, coyote are also found
in the park. Small but very important species are the blue listed
Western harvest mouse, Nuttall’s cottontail (the furthest
northerly occurrence) and Spotted bat. The Northern alligator lizard
and Western skink can be found under rocks or bark in open wooded
areas while the Yellow bellied racer prefers grasslands and open
fields. Blue listed reptile species found in the park include Western
painted turtle, Rubber boa, Gopher snake, Western blue racer and
Western rattlesnake. The park protects habitat for five blue and
two red listed bird species including the Western grebe and Whiteheaded
woodpecker.
Return to Okanagan
Mountain Provincial Park.
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