Roadside Nature Tours through the Okanagan

Book excerpt: The Okanagan attracts thousands of visitors each year to enjoy its beaches and wine, but more and more people are discovering its natural beauty. With desert sands and deep lakes, towering rock cliffs and rich benchlands, cold mountain forests and hot grasslands, the Okanagan has an ecological diversity unequalled in Canada. Roadside Nature Tours through the Okanagan opens with an introduction to the region’s biodiversity, climate, geology, and human history, setting the stage for the route descriptions that follow. Richard Cannings then takes us on twenty-one tours through the valley, from the arid benchlands of Osoyoos to the snowy forests east of Vernon. The routes vary from main highways to quiet roads, and along each one we’re introduced to the animals, plants, and bedrock that create this national treasure. Each route also has a focal topic, ranging from owls to salmon and rattlesnakes to rock rabbits.