Free Things to Do in Vernon
Parks, beaches, trails, galleries and more in Vernon that cost nothing to visit. Some ask for a donation or charge for parking; check before you go.
Open Now is based on each place’s listed hours. Hours can change for holidays, seasons or special closures — check with the venue before you go.
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Predator Ridge Trails
5 km of dedicated bike trails plus a connector into Ellison Provincial Park, all open to the public and operated seasonally.
Lake View Free to Visit
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Headbones Gallery
Closed · Opens 12 PM
A contemporary gallery specializing in drawing, sculpture and works on paper, set on Old Kamloops Road outside Vernon.
Free to Visit Arts & Culture
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Becker Bike Park
Becker Bike Park is the City of Vernon’s in-town bike skills park at 3404 39th Avenue, re-opened in August 2024 after a rebuild funded by more than $70,000 in grants and…
Dog-Friendly Kid-Friendly Free to Visit
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Ellison Provincial Park
Ellison Provincial Park rewards the drive south of Vernon with a different kind of Okanagan Lake day: multiple beaches with buoyed swim areas, a playground for the kids…
♥ Local Favourite 🐾 Dog Friendly Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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BX Creek Wetland Boardwalk & Vernon Heronry
Every March the great blue herons come back to Vernon.
Dog-Friendly Free to Visit
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Museum & Archives of Vernon
Closed · Opens 11 AM
The Museum & Archives of Vernon is the North Okanagan's community history museum, with permanent and changing exhibits, streetscapes and dioramas in a recently renovated…
Kid-Friendly Great for Groups Free to Visit Arts & Culture
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Polson Park
Polson Park is Vernon's central green space, best known for its Floral Clock, installed in 1958, and its Japanese Garden and Chinese pagoda.
Kid-Friendly Great for Groups Free to Visit
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Swan Lake Nature Reserve Trail
8 km loop at the southwest end of Swan Lake, north of Vernon, preserving and restoring marshland in partnership with Ducks Unlimited.
Lake View Free to Visit
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Kekuli Bay Provincial Park
Kekuli Bay sits on a peaceful bay on the west side of Kalamalka Lake, with calm waters that make it a popular launching point for kayaks, SUPs, waterskiing and boating…
Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Cools Pond Park
Cools Pond is the North Okanagan's easiest birding stop: a small rural wetland on L&A Road just north of Vernon, with a short, flat pathway running the length of the…
Free to Visit
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Vernon Public Art Gallery
Closed · Opens 11 AM
The Vernon Public Art Gallery is the largest public art gallery in the North Okanagan, presenting changing contemporary exhibitions through the year, with admission by…
Kid-Friendly Great for Groups Free to Visit Arts & Culture
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Allan Brooks Nature Centre
The Allan Brooks Nature Centre sits on a grassland knoll five minutes south of downtown Vernon with a view you cannot get anywhere else in the valley: Okanagan…
Kid-Friendly Lake View Great for Groups Free to Visit
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Lakers Park Disc Golf Course
Lakers Park in Okanagan Landing has a free nine-hole disc golf course laid out around the old Lakers golf course, with short, all-par-3 holes that make it a friendly…
Dog-Friendly Kid-Friendly Free to Visit
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Planet Bee Honey Farm & Honeymoon Meadery
Closed · Opens 9 AM
Planet Bee Honey Farm & Honeymoon Meadery is a working honey farm in Vernon where you can watch live bees build comb in on-site viewing hives and learn how honey is made.
Kid-Friendly Great for Groups Free to Visit
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Paddlewheel Park
Paddlewheel Park Beach is a local favourite, and for good reason: it is built for a full-day family outing.
♥ Local Favourite Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Davison Orchards
Davison Orchards is a family farm on the edge of Vernon with free admission and wide views over the city.
Open until Oct 31
♥ Local Favourite Patio Kid-Friendly Free to Visit
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Grey Canal Trail
The Grey Canal Trail follows the alignment of British Columbia's longest irrigation channel, the canal that once carried water to the orchards and farms across the…
Dog-Friendly Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Historic O'Keefe Ranch
Closed · Opens 10 AM
Historic O'Keefe Ranch is a heritage site just north of Vernon on Highway 97 where you can tour the 1860s-era O'Keefe Mansion, the general store and post office and St.
Open until Oct 31
♥ Local Favourite Kid-Friendly Great for Groups Free to Visit Arts & Culture
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Kal Crystal Waters Trail
57 km route for walkers and cyclists from Okanagan College in Vernon south to Lake Country, rated Moderate by Tourism Vernon.
Dog-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Kin Beach
Kin Beach is the easy option on Okanagan Lake: a grassy park where the kids can play on the jungle gym and splash in the shallow water while the adults strike up a…
Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Rocky Ridge Park (Turtle Mountain)
Rocky Ridge Park is Vernon's quickest 360-degree view: a small Regional District park on the summit ridge of Turtle Mountain, in the Alexis Park neighbourhood on the…
Free to Visit
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Goose Lake Range Park
Goose Lake Range Park is a new 46-hectare natural space on the plateau between Swan Lake and Okanagan Lake north of Vernon, with over 3 km of non-motorized, multi-use…
Dog-Friendly Free to Visit
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Gallery Vertigo
Closed · Opens 10:30 AM
An artist-run gallery of the North Okanagan Artists Alternative, showing monthly exhibitions by regional artists across from the Towne Theatre.
Free to Visit Arts & Culture
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Middleton Mountain (Farnsworth Nature Reserve)
Middleton Mountain is the grassy summit between Vernon and Coldstream, and the Farnsworth Nature Reserve at its top protects native grassland where four loop trails…
Dog-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Hurlburt Park
Hurlburt Park is where Vernon swims with its dog.
♥ Local Favourite 🐾 Dog Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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BX Creek Trail & BX Falls
The BX Creek Trail follows BX Creek from the mountains above Vernon down to the valley bottom, and its centrepiece is BX Falls.
Dog-Friendly Kid-Friendly Free to Visit
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Vernon Community Arts Centre
Closed · Opens 9 AM
A community arts hub in Polson Park with a members' gallery and art shop plus classes and drop-in studio time in pottery, painting and other crafts.
Kid-Friendly Great for Groups Free to Visit Arts & Culture
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Marshall Fields
Marshall Fields is a large City of Vernon park on Okanagan Landing Road, home to ball diamonds, a full-size soccer field, tennis and basketball courts.
♥ Local Favourite Free to Visit
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Vernon Farmers' Market
The Vernon Farmers' Market runs Monday and Thursday mornings from April through October at Kal Tire Place, with an extra Saturday market on Kalamalka Lake Road from June…
Closed for the season.
♥ Local Favourite Free to Visit
More in Vernon
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