Gardens & Heritage Sites in the Okanagan
Japanese gardens, ornamental gardens and the valley’s pioneer and heritage sites.
How we pick our Secret Spots
Secret Spots are the Hidden Gems that are places to explore rather than places to eat: parks, gardens, waterfalls, trails and quieter beaches. We choose each one by hand, looking for spots a local parks, tourism or community source points to as quieter or lesser known, the kind you’d only find if someone told you. They aren’t picked or ranked by popularity or ratings. Each card says why it’s worth seeking out.
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Gellatly Heritage Regional Park
Gellatly Heritage Regional Park is a 2.6-hectare park that tells the story of the pioneering Gellatly family.
Why it’s a gem: A small Westbank park built around a pioneer family cemetery where Gellatlys have been buried for more than a century.
Free Dogs OK +1
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Brigade Trail & Priest Camp Historic Park
Priest Camp Historic Park at the Garnet Valley Dam is the trailhead for the Brigade Trail, a 4.1 km path that follows part of the original Okanagan fur brigade route.
Why it’s a gem: A preserved fur-brigade camp and a stretch of the original trail, a route used for at least 6,000 years, up in Garnet Valley.
Free Dogs OK +1
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Father Pandosy Mission Heritage Site
The first permanent non-Indigenous settlement in the Okanagan, founded by Oblate priest Father Pandosy in 1860.
Why it’s a gem: The historic buildings of an 1860 Oblate mission, open daily with a $5 voluntary admission, tucked off Benvoulin Road.
Free Groups +1
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Summerland Ornamental Gardens
Fifteen acres of heritage trees, lawns and xeriscape beds on the bench above Trout Creek, growing since 1916.
Why it’s a gem: Fifteen acres of heritage trees and gardens on the canyon rim above Trout Creek, planted by the Dominion Experimental Farm in 1916.
Free Dogs OK +1
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Penticton Ikeda Japanese Garden
A quiet Japanese garden on Penticton's Okanagan Lake waterfront, with koi-filled ponds, graceful bridges and plantings that burst into bloom each April and May.
Why it’s a gem: A peaceful Japanese garden with koi ponds and little bridges, tucked beside Penticton's busy waterfront.
Free Lake view
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Kasugai Garden
Tucked behind a wall off Water Street, Kasugai Garden is downtown Kelowna's secret calm: stone lanterns, sculpted pines, a waterfall and a koi pond celebrating the…
Closed for the season.
Why it’s a gem: A walled Japanese garden off Water Street with a koi pond, waterfall and stone lanterns, free and steps from the lake.
Free
All places on this page, A–Z (42)
- Bertram Creek Regional Park
- Brigade Trail & Priest Camp Historic Park
- BX Creek Trail & BX Falls
- Cedar Creek Park
- Cools Pond Park
- Dickinson Family Farm
- Father Pandosy Mission Heritage Site
- Gellatly Heritage Regional Park
- Gellatly Nut Farm Regional Park
- Glen Canyon Regional Park
- Hardy Falls Regional Park
- Hidden Lake Recreation Site
- Inkaneep Provincial Park Campground
- Kalamoir Regional Park
- Kaleden Hotel Park
- Kaloya Regional Park
- Kasugai Garden
- Kickininee Provincial Park
- Kingfisher Interpretive Centre
- Kopje Regional Park
- Kuipers' Peak Mountain Park
- Manitou Park
- Maude-Roxby Wetland (Bird Sanctuary)
- McKinley Mountain Park
- Mill Creek Regional Park
- Mount Conkle Park
- Munson Pond Park
- Naramata Creek Park Waterfall Trail
- Nuyens Park
- Osoyoos Oxbows Trail
- Penticton Ikeda Japanese Garden
- Powell Beach Park
- Raymer Bay Regional Park
- Rock Ovens Park
- Rocky Ridge Park (Turtle Mountain)
- Rotary Beach Park
- Sarsons Beach Park
- Summerland Ornamental Gardens
- Thomas Hayes Ecological Reserve Trails
- Trepanier Creek Greenway Regional Park
- Vaseux Lake Provincial Park
- White Lake Grasslands Protected Area
Looking for cafés, breweries and other under-the-radar places? See all Hidden Gems →