My wife and I made a return to Myra Canyon trestles and it was a great afternoon.
Railtrail Overview
Railroad cycling trails are a unique and growing phenomenon in North America. These trails are made up of reclaimed railroad corridors that have been abandoned by the railroads and repurposed for recreational use. Cyclists can enjoy a nearly level surface with a minimum of obstacles, as well as scenery that often includes woods, rivers, and mountains.
The first railroad cycling trail was the Rails to Trails Conservancy’s (RTC) crushed limestone trail from Mobile, Alabama to Pensacola, Florida, which was completed in 1991. At present there are approximately 1,200 railtrails in the United States covering more than 22,000 miles. The number of railtrails is increasing every year as more and more people discover their many advantages over traditional roads for cycling.
Here is a list of railtrails available for your cycling pleasure in Canada.
Myra Canyon Trestles
The Kettle Valley Railtrails are almost 650 kilometers long, and are in the Okanagan area. For a comprehensive overview of the trails and their history, visit here.
Myra Canyon is south of Kelowna on the east side of the lake. There are 18 trestles, I believe, and part of the wonderment of the trip. Cyclists or walkers can cross these trestles, and stop on built in lookout perches to take pictures or just take a breathtaking breather.
All of the trestles have side rails. They were installed I am told after a lady cyclist went over the side and perished in the fall. These trestles are way up high. They must be over a hundred feet drop to the sloping canyonsides.
Most of the trestles were lost in a fire a few years back, and were rebuilt. Myra Canyon is a very popular spot for locals, but this trip I was amazed to hear that almost every group we came across, and there were many as it was quite busy, spoke languages other than English. Many folks from around the world made Myra Canyon a destination to visit.
There are bike rentals at the trail head, if you were wondering how someone from Belarus could cycle.
Myra Canyon Trestles Trip
This was my third trip to Myra Canyon. Once with my daughter’s fella, then with my daughter, and this time with my wife. I would make the trip every year it is so super to experience. There are tunnels as well (three I think), and they are cool to roll through. The infrastructure of the park (yes, Myra Canyon is a provincial park) includes many benches and a couple of washrooms along the 11 km one-way route. So you every need is cared for, and that is a good thing.
We took a couple of breaks, one for our lunch which we packed in ; there are no opportunities to buy food or water up there.
It had rained for the last couple of weeks, and there were many puddles along the trail. At a 2 percent grade trail , the water doesn’t always just run off, and we got our legs wet and splattered with trail dust and grime. There were many mini waterfalls along the trail, and that showed just how much it had been raining up on the mountains in the past couple of weeks.
Overall the trail is very smooth, wide enough to accommodate two way traffic, and in many areas bowers of trees joined arms across the top of the trail. Throw in the views of the canyons along with the trestles and tunnels and this ride is an 11/10!
By the way, no charge to ride the trail up at Myra Canyon!
At one end of the trail is Ruth Station, and the other is Myra Station. My neighbor, who has been a cyclist and camper throughout BC for 60 years, suggested starting at Ruth Station it is the low end of the grade and you get a bit of a break on the return trip from Myra Station.
Getting to either station via vehicle isn’t the best for the last 10 kms or so. Both stations have gravel road final approaches , and Ruth Station road had horrendous washboard the time we went there. And I mean horrendous. The Myra Station we started at this time had the road in a good state. No washboard, but quite a few potholes. I’ll take dodging a pothole to bouncing over washboard any day.