Myra Canyon Rail Trail (KVR)

Intro & Preamble

I’d heard good things about the BC Rail Trail system so when my brother-in-law proposed a ride at Myra Canyon at our annual family vacation in Vernon I readily agreed. After some research I quickly realized that the main attraction of the riding at Myra Canyon was the trestle system and that this was only a 24km (return) venture. As nice as the trestles would be, driving all the way there from Vernon was going to take at least an hour or more each way so I proposed extending the ride to Chute Lake which would give us a 70km return distance. Strangely (as I’d quickly realize), RideWithGPS gave me hundreds of meters of height losses and gains over this route which is totally incorrect. More on that later.

Construction & Purpose

The Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) was built in the early 1900s by the Canadian Pacific Railway to connect the mining and resource economies of BC’s Southern Interior to the coast, largely driven by growing silver mining demands. Chief engineer Andrew McCulloch decided to attach the railway tracks to the sides of the canyon rather than tunnel through it, an approach that required nearly eleven kilometres of track to reach around something less than one kilometre wide. The Myra Canyon section, using sixteen timber framed trestles, two steel bridges and two tunnels (later reduced from an original 19 wooden trestles as some were filled in or bypassed), was so difficult to build in this terrain that engineers dubbed it “McCulloch’s Wonder.” It was completed in 1914, with the full KVR through the Coquihalla opening in 1916. Rail traffic ran until 1949’s completion of the Crowsnest Highway made the line increasingly redundant; the last freight train ran in 1962, the last passenger train in 1964, and the line was officially abandoned in 1978. (See here for more information.)

2003 Fire & Rebuild

The Okanagan Mountain Park firestorm of August 2003 tore through Myra Canyon and destroyed 12 of the 18 remaining wooden trestles. The rebuild was a multi-year, multi-agency effort (Parks Canada, the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society, and various levels of government) that rebuilt the trestles to historical specification using original construction methods where practical. It took roughly five years to complete, reopening to the public in 2008 — a fast turnaround given the engineering complexity of the original build and the site’s status as a National Historic Site, which constrained materials and methods. (See here for more information.)

Riding the Trestles

Despite one of the BIL having issues with his chain, the riding was so easy that it didn’t matter. We were gobsmacked by the trestles and tunnels as we rode through them and having the entire place to ourselves only enhanced the experience.

Beyond Myra Canyon

As we rode through the parking lot west of the canyon (Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park) I realized that the elevations given by RideWithGPS weren’t going to be even close. In hindsight this made perfect sense as we were literally riding on railway grades. Last time I checked trains from the early 1900s couldn’t gain and lose hundreds of meters of elevation over relatively short distances! 🚂 The riding quickly became a little dull, if I’m honest about it. The views pretty much disappeared and we found ourselves on a forest service road (FSR) with only smoke and dust for company. I was pleasantly surprised when we rode up to one final trestle over Bellevue Creek.

Right at the 25km mark we turned around, now riding into the rising sun that was obscured by the thick wildfire smoke blanketing the whole area. 😐🔥 On the way back we visited another one of the sites beside the trail. It was close enough that we could easily hike to it in our bike shoes and provided some interesting reading on camp life along the railway.

As we rode back through the west parking area we noticed someone maintaining rental bikes out of a sea can nearby. We stopped to chat and that’s when I realized that there are guided bike tours (of course there is) from Myra Canyon past Chute Lake all the way down to Penticton. Participants get to ride almost all the way downhill and get a lift back up to their vehicles at the end of the day. Some options even include wine tasting! 🍷

As we continued back over the main cluster of trestles to the parking lot I realized just how popular and easy this ride is. We ran into dozens and dozens of folks from young kids to the elderly. I was happy we’d experienced the place to ourselves a few hours earlier.

Parting Thoughts

I’m glad I rode the Myra Canyon KVR but it was a little too easy for my tastes. Now that I know there’s a long system of old railways that can be linked together, this would be my preference next time I’m in the area. HIGHLY recommended for families but be forewarned that there are a lot of exposed sections where a child not paying attention could easily ride off a severe edge with not great consequences.