It’s dead quiet. Well, apart from the symphony of crickets that’s playing a background tune while I peer across rolling hills covered in perfect, lush vine rows. The vibrant green stretches on for as far as the eye can see, until it meets a contrasting turquoise: Okanagan Lake. We’re in Lake Country, a town in southern British Columbia, Canada, with a fitting name. Part of the Okanagan Valley, which has over 50 lakes, it’s a quaint little corner that we just so happened to stumble across while exploring the region. 

I’d just put my freshly picked peaches in the back of the car before heading to Grey Monk, one of the notorious vineyards, and indulging in a cool Pinot Gris. This is a must when you’re here, as the valley is one of Canada’s premier wine regions. 

However, even before becoming Europe’s agricultural playground, the Okanagan Valley has been the homeland of the Syilx/Okanagan people. For thousands of years, they’ve lived along the valley’s rivers and lakes. These indigenous routes were later used by European explorers in the early 19th century, who eventually settled and started ranching. Large irrigation systems transformed the dry hills into a fertile agricultural hotspot, now brimming with some of the best apples (first crop), cherries, peaches, plums, and sweet corn in all of BC. 

From Lake Country, we made our way to the neighbouring Wood Lake, where we set off on an iron horse along the Okanagan Rail Trail, a sweet and shorter alternative to the region’s famed KVR Trail…

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