Dear reader: This article contains links to products and services that I may be compensated for, at no extra cost to you.
Kelowna is the third largest city in British Columbia (after Vancouver and Victoria) and the unofficial capital of the Okanagan wine growing region.
As a resident of Edmonton, Alberta with family in BC, I have childhood memories of driving along Okanagan Lake on our annual BC holiday, trying to spot its resident serpentine monster, the Ogopogo. We’d stop for roadside peaches and giant gas station Freezies, make a sticky mess in the car, then find the nearest beach to go swimming. As an older kid, I can’t forget the wild cliff jumps my father and I did down in Okanagan Falls.
Now, as a parent, we still do the same annual trip, except to visit my kids’ great-grandmother (see our favorite things to do in Abbotsford with kids) and to our cabin my grandfather built on Galiano Island. We usually take the faster Highway 5 route down from Jasper, but sometimes we’ll still take the slower route through the Okanagan because it’s just so beautiful.
Kelowna of course has changed A LOT since my childhood. It’s far more developed, and as we recently learned, very expensive if you want to actually stay there.
In this article, I’ll share some of the fun kid-friendly things we found to do in Kelowna, based on our two most recent visits in the last couple years.
Table of Contents
Kangaroo Creek Farm
One of the best family attractions in Kelowna area is Kangaroo Creek Farm (official site / GoogleMaps). If you’re coming into Kelowna from the north, you’ll pass the farm about 15 minutes before you reach the city proper.
Much more than just kangaroos (which by the way are all rescues), the zoo includes rabbits, capybaras, goats, chickens, parrots, emus, peacocks, tortoises, porcupines, and several reptiles. You can see the full list of animals here.
For my kids, the highlights of our visit included petting bunnies, the reptile show (which included the chance to hold one of the snakes at the end), and seeing a mother kangaroo with a joey in her pouch.
The zoo is very popular, especially on weekends or holidays, and it does get VERY HOT in the Okanagan. Visit early in the day and on weekdays or non-holidays if you can. We spend a couple hours here.
Fun Fact for Kids: “Kelowna” is derived from the word kiʔláwnaʔ, which means “grizzly bear” in the indigenous Okanagan language.
Hitting the Beach in Kelowna
If you’re like me when I was a kid, or your kids are like mine, their favorite places in the Okanagan are going to be the beaches.
If you stay in Kelowna’s downtown area like we did on one visit, then Hot Sands Beach in Kelowna City Park is the main beach in town. In summer, they usually set up a huge bouncy water park off right the beach.
There are better beaches in Kelowna if you get away from the downtown area. Locals seem to prefer the long stretch of sand at Boyce-Gyro Beach Park further south, which also has a fun zipline into the water.
There are many other great beaches in Kelowna or further out of town.
We also splurged on an Airbnb in Kelowna with a pool. But heads up, hotels and Airbnbs in Kelowna are $$$!
Walking to Kelowna City Park
On our walk to downtown Kelowna, our kids enjoyed seeing all the boats docked in the habor. My daughter also liked showing off her skills on a random piano on the path (it’s right here if you want to find it!)
Kelowna City Park is a large green space that includes a splash park, skate park, and excellent playground with zip line that my kids played on for ages.
There’s a paid parking lot at the park, but good luck on weekends or summer holidays!
Spotting the Ogopogo
Kelowna City Park is also where you can find a statue of the Ogopogo, Kelowna’s own answer to the Loch Ness Monster.
Few kids can decline the challenge to climb up and ride the lake-dwelling monster. It’s right here at the northern end of the park, close to the piano I mentioned above.
Getting Ice Cream Downtown
No summer trip anywhere in BC is complete without getting some ice creams. From our Airbnb just north of downtown Kelowna, we followed the lakeside trail downtown in search of the best ice cream.
We satisfied our craving at Amore Mio, a gelato shop on Bernard Avenue, the main pedestrian street of downtown Kelowna. The gelato shop uses ingredients like pistachios sourced from Italy and local BC fruits. So delish!
Katsugai Gardens
We made one more stop on our downtown Kelowna walk, at Katsugai Gardens. The Japanese garden was established in front of Kelowna City Hall to celebrate the sister relationship between Kelowna and Katsugai, Japan.
When we visited, we had the peaceful gardens all to ourselves, with fish-filled ponds, plants, statues, and bridges to explore.
The gardens aren’t huge, but entrance is free, so we found it to be a nice little addition to our day. (Side note: our family loved Japan! Read about our most recent visit to Hokkaido withy our kids here).
Hiking in Myra-Bellevue Park
Eager to do some kind of easy hiking around Kelowna, we drove up to Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park.
The park protects a section of Myra Canyon, which has 16 wooden bridge trestles, two steel bridges, and two tunnels, all of which used to be used by trains on the historic Kettle Valley Railway Line.
Today, you can walk along all of these. It’s the perfect walk for kids because it’s flat, easy, and very scenic. Also, you can go as far as your kids’ little legs can handle, and turn back whenever you want.
Best Wineries with Kids
The Okanagan is the second-largest wine-producing region in Canada. Many people travel to Kelowna and the Okanagan region just for the wineries.
Wine tours abound, and while we did find some that accept kids (for the same price as adults!), we couldn’t imagine our kids would actually enjoy a full day or winery tours.
We did still want to visit at least a few wineries on our own, though, and we managed to find a few kid-friendly ones.
The pick of the bunch for us was Frind Winery on the Westbank side of the lake, which bills itself as the first lakeside winery in North America. It’s truly right beside the lake, so while my wife and I enjoyed our wine, the kids could play on the beach right next to us.
On the Kelowna side, we also enjoyed The Vibrant Vine, an art focused winery. The retired owners’ son does all the artwork on site, which also adorns the bottles themselves.
While we did a tasting here, the kids were provided with coloring sheets and special 3D glasses that made the artworks pop out.
Pro Tip: As parents, we did most of our wine drinking back at our Airbnb. We actually found that some local wines were cheaper at Kelowna’s Wine & Beyond than at the wineries themselves, but of course you’ll be supporting the wineries more if you buy directly from them.
AND Cideries AND Breweries
Besides wineries, there are also some fantastic cideries and breweries in Kelowna, and virtually all of them allow kids.
Some of the best cideries are just off Highway 97 when driving south into Kelowna. We loved Scenic Road Cider Co., where we sat at some lovely picnic tables outside surrounded by apple trees. My kids are huge cat fans and managed to find a cat here.
One commenter on this article also recommends the new Folktale Cider, which even has a zip line, bounding pad, and more for kids!
Several excellent breweries are concentrated in the Kelowna downtown area. We enjoyed the sunny outdoor patio at BNA Brewing. Inside, there’s even bowling, arcade games, and bocce ball, not to mention a kids’ food menu.
Note that bowling is only open from 5 PM, and no kids after 10 PM.
Just around the corner from BNA, we enjoyed the Indian-Mexican fusion foods at Taco Delhi.
Stopping for Fresh BC Fruit
You simply cannot visit the Okanagan without gorging on some local fruits. On our drive into Kelowna, we stopped at Gatzke’s Farm Market (official site / GoogleMaps), about 15 minutes before the kangaroo farm.
The 4th generation market has all kinds of delicious locally grown fruits and vegetables from their own family farm, as well as other products like jams, pies, salsa, ice cream, and more.
Seeing the Best Lake View
Further north from Gatzke’s, just south of Vernon, we also stopped at this incredible viewpoint, which is not of Okanagan Lake but of Kalamalka Lake, one valley over.
I’m sure you can find several other stunning viewpoints of either lake in the region, but this one was such an easy stop on the drive down to Kelowna.
Camping around Kelowna
On one of our Okanagan trips, we camped at a hidden gem called Ellison Provincial Park. Well, not so hidden, as all the locals surely know about it.
The park is right on Okanagan Lake, about 30 kilometers north of Kelowna, as the bird flies. The campground is absolutely stunning, from spotlessly clean bathrooms and photogenic sites to sunset views from the top of lakeside cliffs and three gorgeous beaches.
One beach is specifically for dogs – we don’t have a dog but still enjoyed a swim there. The main beach is especially beautiful, with rock climbing on the side. And a third beach even has scuba diving. On top of all that, there are some nice walking trails around the park.
We loved this campsite and would come back in a heartbeat!
Did we miss any fun children’s activities in Kelowna? Please share in the comments below!
There’s a new cider in Lake Country that is perfect for kids. Chickens, zipline, giant jumper pillow, and a bunch of different games. There’s also an indoor kid cave with books & chalkboard wall. It’s called Folktale Cider!
That sounds amazing. We will definitely check it out on our next trip!