The Okanagan Trestle Tour: Is it Worth It?

After two years of being off the organizers of the Okanagan Trestle Tour got it off the ground for 2022!

The big question is, was it worth the investment of $500 for a family of 4?

Before I get there, let's talk a little bit about the trip itself.

How Were the Trestles?

The Okanagan Trestle Tour had three options:

1. 20 KM
2. 40 KM
3. 80 KM

If you wanted to see the amazing Myra Canyon and ride over the trestles then you needed to sign up for the 80 KM trip. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that when we signed up.

We weren't too worried about it though, our 13 year olds likely would have tried to off us in our sleep if we made them ride 80 KMs, we were pushing it when we told them about the 40km option.

Luckily though we did a 17 km ride starting at Myra Canyon and heading out to Trestle #2 and then back, so we got to see what those riders saw during their ride.

What was the Ride Like?

We started at Chute Lake Lodgea little bit past our time as our bus driver (not really his fault as he was following the bus in front of him) got us a little lost.

It was raining when we got started but it stopped less than 20 minutes in, the skies opened up and we had sunshine for the rest of our ride.

It was a nice and comfortable 22 degrees, the rain cooled everything off, the day before was 30 degrees.

I couldn't imagine doing that ride in that kind of weather.

The trail was mostly downhill from the 40 KM start, at least it felt like it. The only incline was when we were about 3kms from Penticton, and even then it wasn't anything any of us couldn't handle.

The trail was mostly sand and rock at the beginning, once we hit the 23 km mark though the trail turned to crush gravel and was far more taken care of with no potholes or mud.

The views were amazing!

Although the start took you through a lot of bush, once you broke out to the mountain side the views of the lake, orchards and vineyards were truly breathtaking.

The Volunteers Were Amazing

An event like this could not run and operate with volunteers to help with registration, bike loading, bike off loading, bik transport, rider transport, running aid stations, security, first aid and so much more.

The volunteers at the aid stations were some of our favourties, they were so personable and so happy to be out there handing out bagels, juice boxes and our fave...watermelon!

THANK YOU to everyone that put in their time that weekend, you were truly appreciated.

So, Would You Ride the Okangan Trestels Tour Again?

In talking with my wife afterwards during our well deserved burger and beer, we figured it would be a perfect set up for a couple or a couple of couples.

Truthfully, we didn't see a lot of kids on this tour, it was almost all adults.

Part of the cost of this ride was bike transport, if we had two bike carriers or a truck and a bike carrier, we would be able to do this trip ourselves.

So, would we do it again as a family?

Likely not, at least not through this organized event. We will likely go back up there for another ride this summer, the views never get old.

That said, we would love to sign up with some of our friends to do this ride as a couple, that would be a lot of fun.

It is one of those Okanagan experiences though that you must take in at least once!