Sports & Recreation in Kelowna, BC
3 verified sports & recreation spots in Kelowna.
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Kelowna BMX Track
Kelowna's BMX race track sits in Rutland Recreation Park, behind the Rutland arenas. Kelowna BMX runs practice and race nights through the riding season, and the club has hosted national-level events like the Firestorm Nationals. New riders are welcome to try the track at the club's open houses. Rutland Recreation Park also has public pickleball courts, washrooms and trails.
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Kelowna Memorial Arena
Memorial Arena is the old downtown rink on Ellis Street, a few blocks from the lake, with City of Kelowna public skating from October and a quieter Seniors Skate that regulars prize. There are no rentals, so bring skates or get them at Rutland Arena or the Stuart Park hut. Book at rec.kelowna.ca (bring your receipt) or pay cash at the door: $5, $4.25 for kids 6 to 13 and seniors 65+, free for preschoolers, $13.50 for families. Online sells only the general rate, so call 250-469-8800 for others.
Kid-Friendly
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Rutland Arena
Rutland Arena, or Rutland Twin Arena, is Kelowna's public-skating workhorse: two NHL-sized sheets on Dodd Road with public, parent-and-tot and seniors' skates from October. It is the easiest place to skate without gear, with skates to rent for $5, helmets $3, skate bars $2 and sharpening $7. Book at rec.kelowna.ca up to seven days ahead with your receipt, or pay cash at the door. Admission is $5, $4.25 for kids 6 to 13 and seniors 65+, free for preschoolers and $13.50 for families; call 250-469-8800 for reduced rates.
Kid-Friendly
More places to play
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Ben Lee Park
Ben Lee Park is Rutland's big family park, with a playground, basketball courts, a skate park and a water park. The City added new water features and upgrades for summer 2026, so it's an easy place to let kids cool off on a hot day.
Play: Skate park with bowl, stair sets and rails, plus basketball courts
Kid-Friendly Free to Visit
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Boyce-Gyro Beach Park
Boyce-Gyro is Kelowna’s Lakeshore Road beach for people who want to do more than lie down: a swimming area on Okanagan Lake, sand volleyball courts and a playground, with washrooms on site. Parking is in the City’s pay lot beside the park (125 spaces, $1.50 an hour, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily in summer). It is also one of the easiest Kelowna beaches to enjoy from a wheelchair, with a beach wheelchair available at no charge from Okanagan Beach Rentals on site between 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. daily, weather permitting. Dogs are welcome on leash on the paths but not on the beach, and the water is tested by Interior Health through the summer.
Play: Beach volleyball courts, public when no league or tournament play
♥ Local Favourite Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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City Park – Hot Sands Beach
Hot Sands is the long sandy beach inside Kelowna’s City Park, where a swim can turn into a whole day. The swimming area sits beside a floating aqua park, and back from the water there is a children’s waterpark (May long weekend to early September), a playground, sand volleyball courts and even a skateboard park, with mobile and static concession stands so nobody has to leave to eat. Washrooms and change rooms are on site, and the water is tested by Interior Health through the summer. The City Park lot off Abbott Street is pay parking (291 spaces, $1.50 an hour, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily in summer), and its gate is locked from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Dogs can use the on-leash and off-leash dog run in the park but not the beach.
Play: Lit skate park and beach volleyball courts (league nights Mon–Thu)
Kid-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Crawford Trails – Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park
Crawford is what Kelowna riders call the trail network in the western part of Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park, above the Upper Mission, reached from the Stewart Road East trailhead. Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan describes more than 150 km of multi-use trails here, from flowy singletrack to technical rock gardens and challenging descents, with difficulty ranging from beginner to expert but most routes falling in intermediate or advanced terrain — it is where many local riders learned to mountain bike. BC Parks permits cycling in the park, with e-bikes allowed on signed and designated trails, and warns of natural hazards including steep drop-offs at Crawford Falls and Devil’s Elbow and falling rock; the Little White Trail between Pooley Creek and Upper Crawford is closed. Dogs must be kept under control. The Myra Canyon trestles lie in the same park but are reached from their own trailheads on the Myra and June Springs roads. A pit toilet is provided at the Stewart Road East trailhead; parking costs are not published.
Play: MTB network: 107 trails, 150+ km singletrack, all levels
Free to Visit
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Gillard Trails
Gillard is the Okanagan’s original freeride mountain-bike area, on the hillside south of Kelowna’s Kettle Valley neighbourhood, and is now an official Recreation Sites and Trails BC trail network maintained by Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan. The trails took shape in the late 1990s and remain built for intermediate to expert riders — fast singletrack, jumps of every size, rock gardens and slabs, wooden features and steep technical lines — with enduro, freeride or downhill bikes recommended. It is best ridden as a shuttle network, though MTBCO’s multi-year climbing-trail project now gives riders a way up under their own power. Tourism Kelowna’s route: Lakeshore Road to Chute Lake Road, then Gillard Forest Service Road to the Recreation Sites and Trails BC parking lot about 3.8 km up. Provincial recreation-trail rules ask that pets be kept quiet and under control; parking costs are not published.
Play: Freeride MTB network: 65 trails, 68+ km, intermediate to expert
Free to Visit
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Knox Mountain Park
Knox Mountain is Kelowna's largest natural area park, 385 hectares rising roughly 300 metres above Okanagan Lake just north of downtown, and its lookouts are the classic view of the city. The park moves from lakeshore to mountain top through riparian, wetland, ponderosa pine bunchgrass and Douglas-fir ecosystems that the City describes as fragile and easily eroded, so stay on the trails. Walking, running, hiking, road and mountain biking, birding and winter recreation are all part of life here. The park is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; vehicles may drive Knox Mountain Drive to the first lookout from noon to 8 p.m. in the frost-free season, and the road closes in winter, for events and in extreme wildfire risk. Motorized vehicles are not permitted elsewhere in the park. Additional parking is at the western base off Poplar Point Drive. Signature routes include the Apex Trail to the upper lookout — about 5 km round trip on dirt trails with stairs, a moderate 45 minutes to an hour and a half — the 3 km lakeshore walk to Paul's Tomb and Kathleen Lake, the 3.2 km road climb from the base to the top, and the Lochview Trail that connects the park's north side. Dogs must be on leash except in the designated off-leash dog park at 450 Knox Mountain Drive, and smoking, vaping and cannabis are banned in all City parks.
Play: MTB network: 47 trails and 31+ km of singletrack
♥ Local Favourite Dog-Friendly Lake View Free to Visit
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Mission Creek Mountain Bike Skills Park
The Mission Creek Mountain Bike Skills Park is a City of Kelowna bike park on a 3.4-hectare site at 1960 Hollywood Road South, next to the Mission Creek Greenway. Whether you are new to mountain or BMX biking or riding at a high level, it has something to work on: a pump track and four dirt-jump lanes that progress from beginner to expert, with some of the sport’s top riders having contributed to the design. It is also a good spot to catch your breath on a bench and watch the airtime the advanced riders get. Riders can roll in directly from the Greenway, and the City keeps the park open through its seasonal winter closures of other facilities. Parking arrangements and costs are not published on the City’s page.
Play: Pump track and four dirt jump lanes, beginner to expert
Dog-Friendly Free to Visit
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Parkinson Recreation Centre
Parkinson Recreation Centre, the City of Kelowna's main rec centre close to downtown, has a 25-metre pool and a children's play pool for drop-in public swims, plus a hot tub, steam room, gymnasiums and a fitness centre, so it's a handy, low-cost rainy-day swim. Swim times change, so check the city's pool schedule first. Outside, the Basil Meikle courts add 12 outdoor pickleball courts and 6 tennis courts.
Play: 12 outdoor pickleball and 6 tennis courts (Basil Meikle) outside
Kid-Friendly Great for Groups