The Oliver Hike & Bike Trail (OHBT) is a flat, easily accessible pathway, free of vehicular traffic, save for the occasional road crossing. This very well maintained trail has become a main attraction in the town of Oliver, thanks to its founder, the late Stan Upton and the efforts of the South Okanagan Similkameen Parks Society and International Hiking and Biking Society.

The OHBT follows paths paralleling both banks of the Okanagan River for 19.8km. Of this, approximately 10 km is freshly paved on the west side, perhaps 1.5km on the east side. The balance of the trail on either side is compacted gravel - in decent shape as of Spring 2014.

The east side trail is incomplete, severed by a few farm properties near its
northern extremity. This is really unfortunate, as having a full looping trail
network would be ideal for the community. The workaround for this
idiosyncrasy is to make your way down Tuc el Nuit Dr. for a distance of
1.6km (measured from Hwy.97) turning right onto McGowan Rd. At the end of McGowan is a small, signed left-turn leading onto the east side of the OHBT.

Note that this residential area offers no vehicle parking. Initially composed of compacted two-track, the east-side path turns to pavement approximately 2.8km along, at which point you’ll see a footbridge on your right, a singletrack on your left. The singletrack is composed of back-to-back nature trails, dropping into a residential area near Tuc el Nuit lake. Following the OHBT, head straight, where pavement continues as far as the Fairview Rd. bridge in downtown Oliver.

Although the route pierces through the core of the town of Oliver, once you
are on it you are often surrounded by nature. There are several oxbows and ponds where you can see ducks, herons, eagles, and painted turtles. In the summer you’ll find spots for picnics and secluded swims in the river.

Fall brings the changing colors, including bright red sumac, it’s also the perfect time for viewing salmon spawning in the Okanagan River. The most commonly used access points to the Hike and Bike Trail include the paved trailhead on the west side of the Okanagan River - at McAlpine Bridge where Highway 97 crosses the Okanagan River - and two downtown Oliver locations. The downtown access points include one directly behind the Oliver Tourist Information Centre, located at 6431 Station St, and the Kinsman Playground and Water Park 300m north of the Info’ Centre. Access points also exist anywhere a vehicular bridge passes over the Okanagan River.

The pathway includes washrooms, picnic tables, information signs and viewpoints. Equestrians are asked to use only gravel sections to avoid damaging the thin pavement surfacing. The detail in the accompanying map may not show it, but both of the extreme southern ends of the parallel trails dead-end at peninsulas of land jutting into Osoyoos Lake. A footbridge located 1km north of the dead-end facilitates river crossings. There exist a total of ten pedestrian foot bridges along the OHBT.

Vertical: 27m | Length: 39.6km loop | Water: Not Potable | Cell: Full