Current Travel Info

Welcome to the Similkameen Valley

British Columbia, Canada

Rugged. Rustic. Real.

Remember the way you felt as a kid on the first warm day of spring, bursting with spring fever, itching to throw off your boots and head outside?

Well, you can relive that feeling in the wide-open spaces of the Similkameen — just grab your gear and get outdoors where valley and mountain trails and rushing rivers are waiting for you! From the fruit orchards and vineyards of Keremeos and Cawston to the wild grass meadows of Princeton’s cattle country, the air is alive with the honeyed song of bees, perfumed by blossoms.

Join us this spring in the Similkameen…we can’t wait to welcome you.

Our wide open spaces and special places provide solitude and opportunities to reconnect with each other and the land. Visit us in any season.

Spring temperatures are ideal for outdoor activities there are plenty of Things To Do and Places to Go.

The Similkameen Valley is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Similamix and Smelqmix People.

Official visitor website for the Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada including Cathedral Lakes, Cawston, Chopaka, Coalmont, Eastgate, Hedley, Keremeos, Manning Park, Olalla, Princeton, Similkameen Valley, Tulameen and Twin Lakes.

Top Rated Experiences

Getting Here

Driving Hwy 3 beside the river

Getting Here Is Easy

The Crowsnest Scenic BC Highway 3 runs straight through the Similkameen Valley. Starting from the west exit from Hope, you will travel to Manning Park, then onward Princeton, followed by Hedley, Keremeos and Cawston. Further eastbound you will arrive at the junction of Highway 97 at Osoyoos and gateway to the Okanagan Valley in the Thompson-Okanagan Region of BC’s Interior. We are a 3-hour drive from Vancouver.

If you were to drive the valley from end to end, you’d cover 111 miles (180 km). Start at Manning Park in the west and end up at the BC Highway 97 junction in Kaleden (Hwy 3A) or Osoyoos in the east. How long it takes to drive it will be up to you, there is plenty to see and do!

What Does Similkameen Mean?

The Similkameen river and valley is named for its Indigenous people, the Similkameen, meaning “people of the river.”

What does Similkameen mean?

Official visitor website for the Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada including Cathedral Lakes, Cawston, Chopaka, Coalmont, Eastgate, Hedley, Keremeos, Manning Park, Olalla, Princeton, Similkameen Valley, Tulameen and Twin Lakes.