Outdoor Destinations in Enderby, BC

Cooke Creek Recreation Site (Shuswap River)

Cooke Creek sits beside the crystal-clear Shuswap River on the road from Enderby to Mabel Lake — 22 sites a short turn off the pavement, with swimming holes, trout water clear enough that divers use it, and walking trails through the riverside forest. In October the salmon run turns the river into a show, and the Kingfisher hatchery and interpretive centre is a few minutes away on the same road.

Enderby Arena

Enderby's arena at the John Pritchard Memorial Sports Complex offers something rare: free public skating, several days a week, from September 1 through March. The schedule is built around after-school and weekend hours — Tuesday to Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m., Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. — and admission costs nothing. It is a straightforward, old-fashioned skate: no sticks or pucks on the ice, strollers welcome, everyone on the surface in skates, and helmets strongly recommended. Bring your own gear, as rentals are not listed. The building seats 900 and is the home of the Enderby Ice Hawks and the town's minor-hockey and skating-lesson programs, so check the arena calendar for the odd closure around games and tournaments. Enderby & District Recreation Services (250-838-2665) can confirm the week's times.

Hidden Lake Recreation Site

Hidden Lake lives up to its name — a long forested lake in the hills east of Enderby, 13 km up a good gravel road from the Trinity Valley — and then surprises you with 48 campsites and a real boat launch. No towing is allowed on the water, so it stays glassy for canoes, paddleboards and trout anglers, generators are limited to a few hours a day and quiet hours are enforced, which makes it one of the more peaceful large campgrounds in the North Okanagan. First come, first served.

Kingfisher Interpretive Centre

Twenty-five kilometres east of Enderby on the road to Mabel Lake, the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre is a volunteer-run salmon hatchery on the banks of the Shuswap River that has been raising Chinook salmon for close to four decades — and it welcomes visitors. In summer the hatchery opens for tours, with displays to browse and interpreters on hand to answer questions, on Sundays, Mondays and Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the riverside grounds and trails are open from dawn to dusk year-round, and outhouses in the upper parking lot stay open to the public. Timing matters here: from mid-April to the end of the school year, weekday mornings belong to school groups releasing salmon fry, so the trails open to everyone after 1:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and through September and October the buildings are closed for scientific research while the trails remain open in daylight hours. The centre's public events are the real treat — a free Learn to Fish day for children each July, and the annual Salmon Egg Take on the Thanksgiving weekend, when Chinook are netted on the river and their eggs fertilized back at the incubator in a free, hands-on family event you are welcome to join or simply watch. No admission fee is published for a visit; the society runs on volunteers and donations, and it won the Canadian Museum of Nature's 2021 Nature Inspiration Award for community action. Keep pets under control and pack out what you bring in.

Mabel Lake Resort & Marina

Mabel Lake Resort is the comfortable way to camp on one of the North Okanagan's wildest lakes: shaded RV sites with 30-amp full hookups a few steps from the beach at the south end of Mabel Lake, a marina with fuel and moorage, a store, laundry and showers, and the resort's own golf course across the road. It is the full-service counterpart to the free recreation sites up the shore — the place for a boat-and-beach week when the rest of the family wants a cabin or a condo.

Noisy Creek Recreation Site (Mabel Lake)

Noisy Creek is where the North Okanagan goes to the beach in July: sixty campsites at the wild north end of Mabel Lake, reached by 24 km of forest road from the Enderby side, with long sandy beaches, warm shallows and a trail into the forest behind camp. Recreation Sites and Trails BC describes it as very popular with young people and families, and that is fair warning — on long weekends it is full by Friday afternoon, and there is nothing to buy for an hour in any direction, so come with the truck loaded. What you get for the effort is the best beach camping in the North Okanagan on a lake most visitors never see.

Riverside RV Park & Campground

Riverside sits on the Shuswap River right in Enderby: shaded tent and RV sites with full hookups, a boat launch that puts you straight into the river for the classic lazy float, a covered kitchen and gazebo for group dinners, a playground and a riverwalk trail — with the Enderby Cliffs towering over the far bank and the town's cafés a five-minute walk away. It is the natural base for the cliffs hike, Mabel Lake day trips and the Kingfisher hatchery.

Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail – Enderby section

The Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail follows the abandoned Sicamous-to-Armstrong rail corridor, and 21 km of it is now open to the public between Enderby, Grindrod and Mara — a flat, easy ride along the Shuswap River valley on a rail grade shared with walkers. The rail-trail vision, developed with Secwépemc partners, is to protect environmental, agricultural and cultural values along the corridor while building tourism and transportation links between the communities. Two things to know before you ride: the section along Mara Lake between Sicamous and Mara is open on weekends only from mid-September through December 2026 while shoreline-stabilization work is under way, and the Armstrong section has not yet opened. Trailhead parking and costs are not published on the trail site, and no dog or e-bike rules are published for the trail.

Shuswap River Float

Enderby's classic summer ritual: launch a tube, air mattress or kayak at Belvidere Park and let the gentle Shuswap River carry you 2.5 km past cottonwoods and the Enderby Cliffs. It takes an hour or two. You must exit at Tuey (Waterwheel) Park, because dangerous rapids begin immediately downstream.

Tplaqín / Enderby Cliffs Provincial Park

The Enderby Cliffs are the landmark of the northern Okanagan: at nearly 1,200 metres, the cliffs tower 850 metres above the valley floor and reward the climb with a sweeping view over both the Shuswap and the Okanagan Valley. The 2,299-hectare park sits 5 km northeast of Enderby — from Highway 97A turn east on Cliff Avenue, which becomes Mabel Lake Road, then left on Brash Allen Road to the trailhead. Stay on the designated trail: it crosses a community watershed and the soils are easily damaged. Dogs must be on leash. Small Reeves Lake inside the park is a marshy spot popular for trout fishing. No facilities are listed by BC Parks, so come self-sufficient. The Tplaqín Trail is 6.5 km one way, climbing from the 462-metre trailhead to the 1,150-metre summit — nearly 700 metres of gain — with viewpoints at the 2 km and 3 km marks and a bench partway up; BC Parks calls it strenuous, allows one and a half to two and a half hours each way, warns that falling rock is common, and does not permit bicycles. The upper trail follows the top of the cliffs, so stay on the trail and keep children within reach.

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