Arrow Park Ferry | K. Walker
By Kimberly Walker
In early July last year we set off on a 10-day motorcycle road trip through southern British Columbia. We were determined to mix covering ground with really getting to explore the places we visited. Over the first three days we travelled from Agassiz to Nakusp.
An Okanagan classic, Summerland was the first port-of-call on our motorcycle journey. After leaving Agassiz early in the morning and making quick stops in Manning Park, Princeton, and Keremeos, arriving in Summerland and heading straight for a giant ice cream cone at Summerland Sweets was the perfect end to a toasty day on the road. Summerland Sweets offers a huge variety of options from fruit wine to syrup to ice cream and on this visit I was completely satisfied with my choice of raspberry sorbet in a waffle cone!
On day two we travelled from Summerland to McDonald Creek Provincial Park near Nakusp. We elected to take Highway 97 from Summerland to Vernon, then branched off on Highway 6 through Lumby and Cherryville, across the Needles-Fauquier Ferry, and finally on to McDonald Creek Provincial Park. One of the challenges we faced on our motorcycle trip is that my personal challenge for this calendar year is to complete 5 self-propelled kilometres per day. Motorcycling obviously is not self-propelled, so at each place we visited I was searching for a great way to get active. At McDonald Creek Provincial Park the Nature Trail and McDonald Creek Loop at the north end of the campground, leaving right by site 71B, fit the bill. The trails were gentle and lovely walks – aside from a serious seasonal mosquito infestation!
On day three of our trip we backtracked a little ways towards Fauquier in order to make the most of a unique feature of the Kootenay region of BC – six completely free inland ferries operated under private contract with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. On day 2 we had taken the Needles Cable Ferry, a five-minute long 40 vehicle capacity ferry running every 30 minutes from 5AM to 10PM and then on demand from 10PM to 5AM, and on our way to McDonald Creek we noticed a sign for a second ferry in the area. The five-minute 24 vehicle Arrow Park Cable Ferry services residents of Arrow Park, a small community on the west shore of Arrow Lake. The ferry also provides access to many outdoor opportunities along the west side of Arrow Lake. We mostly went over to cross another free ferry off the list, but in the future I would love to go back and explore the area more thoroughly. One thing to note about the Arrow Park ferry is that it operates on demand from 5AM to 12:05PM, then takes a two-hour break, then picks service back up at 2:15PM and runs until 9:20PM. Don’t get stuck on the wrong side of the ferry at this one!
After re-crossing the Arrow Park ferry we headed north again back towards Nakusp. Throughout the day we marvelled at the number of motorcycles travelling through the area. Highway 6 is obviously a well-known motorcycle destination, and Nakusp provides a central location to eat out or pick up groceries. We did both, stopping for a tasty lunch at The Hut Drive Inn and then picking up supplies at Save-On for part two of our motorcycle journey: Nakusp to Golden. (Watch for the second blog of a series of four published soon.)
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Motorcycle Touring in Southern British Columbia: Nakusp to Golden
Motorcycle Touring in Southern British Columbia: Golden to Nelson
Motorcycle Touring in Southern British Columbia: Nelson to Agassiz
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Published: March 21, 2024
Last Updated: June 27, 2024
Kimberly is a Special Education, Elementary School teacher in Hope, BC. Previously having worked ten years at the Hope Visitor Centre & Museum promoting tourism in Hope and British Columbia, Kimberly worked on many local history projects in the museum as well as researching and writing articles for the local newspaper. Kimberly loves travelling with her husband Dale and their dog Alpine. In the fall of 2014, they spent the first 78 days of married life travelling and camping their way across Canada - just the two of them and the dog - travelling in a Hyundai Elantra! Kimberly loves various outdoor recreation types and exploring our beautiful province.
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