Most Scenic Route From Vancouver to Osoyoos, BC

Sharing our first road trip and camping experience in British Columbia!

It takes around 4 h 30 min to reach Osoyoos, if you don’t stop anywhere but there are so many beautiful sights along the way that you will want to stop!

Vancouver to Hope

Driving distance: 151.8 km via Highway 1

There are two routes to drive to Hope from Vancouver. Highway 1 which is much faster, and Highway 7 is slower, but much more scenic. We took Highway 1 as we planned to take a break in E.C.Manning Park. It took us about 1 hour 30 min to reach Hope, a little town on the banks of Fraser River.

Hope was established 1848-49 as a Hudson's Bay Company post at the western end of its Brigade Trail from Fort Kamloops, and was so named in the hope that this trail would provide an all-British route between forts Kamloops and Langely (www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/).

Hope to Keremeos

Driving distance: 199.1 km via BC-3 E

There are so many interesting places to stop between Hope and Keremeos.

Our first stop was at Hope Slide, the most devastating landslide recorded in Canada happened on Jan 9, 1965 (See Hope Slide History).

Our next stop was at Lighting Lake in E.C. Manning Park. A freshwater lake in the middle of the mountains with an unusual drainage in both directions.

Operating all year round E.C. Manning Park offers beautiful hiking trails, kayaking, summer camping to alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and ice skating as well.

Keremeos - Fruit Capital of Canada

The name originated from the Similkameen dialect of the Okanagan language word "Keremeyeus"meaning"creek which cuts its way through the flats" referring to Keremeos Creek.

Adjacent to Keremeos is Cawston, known as Organic Capital of Canada as over 40% of the crops are grown organically here . This is also where the now world-famous Ambrosia apple was discovered in 1987.

Keremeos to Osoyoos

Driving Distance: 48.1 km via Crowsnest Hwy

It was almost dark when we started our drive to Osoyoos from Keremeos. We spent a lot of time exploring nearby areas and historical sites in Keremous. We recommend to spend a night at Keremeos. Check out my separate blog on Keremeos to know more about this beautiful historic place.

Osoyoos and around

We camped at sẁiẁs park (Haynes Point) located within the traditional territory of the Osoyoos Indian Band in the middle of the lake. It was surreal experience to camp in the middle of the lake.

Pro tip: Osoyoos is a small town and doesn't have many groceries stores and local stores closes early at night.

Tourist Attractions in and around Osoyoos:

Spotted Lake - The sacred Spotted Lake, contains large amounts of magnesium sulfate, calcium, and sodium sulfates, along with other minerals and traces of silver and titanium. During summer, the water evaporates leaving the 'spots' on the lake bed. The lake is on private land, and you can see it from the highway.

Osoyoos Desert Center - Nine kilometers out of town is Canada's only desert, this shrub-grassland is one of Canada’s most fragile and endangered ecosystems.

The Osoyoos Desert Center is home to more than 100 rare plants and 300 critters found nowhere else in Canada. It was fun to explore this desert via 1.6-kilometer self-guided boardwalk with signed posts of painted turtles, scorpions, lizards and pygmy horned toads.