No Hassle Getaways
As a No Hassle Traveller, you know a great vacation can be as simple as hanging out with the people you love best. You love it when friends and family join you to leave your everyday stresses behind. You don’t need to go a long way or for a long time. Short getaways are just your kind of thing. You probably just plan the basics, like where you’ll sleep and how you’ll get there. Then you let each day unfold as it should. there’s nothing but possibilities and plenty of time ahead.
Top 10 experiences for the No Hassle Traveller
- Roll out your beach towel, unpack your picnic, catch up on this summer’s best-seller, unwinding at the beach at Bromley Rock
- Pitch a tent, build a campfire and let the stories begin…building warm family memories that’ll last a lifetime, camping in the great outdoors
- Explore more than 150-kilometres of restored Hudson Bay Brigade trails and discover hidden waterfalls, alpine meadows blooming with wildflowers and plenty of room for the whole family to run free
- Embark on a fortune-hunt with the whole clan, finding hidden treasure. GPS tools makes exploring easy, while finding the hidden cache means everyone will know if they’re “there yet!”
- Stop for a slice of tree-ripened fruit pies at one of twelve fruit stands between Keremeos and Cawston
- Float your cares away on the Similkameen River. A family tradition for generation, folks come from miles around to spend the day idling away and drifting in the river. Popular put in spots include Bromley Rock and the Keremeos Red Bridge.
- Teach your kids to fish…There are plenty of easy-to-access fishing spots along BC Highway 3 and 5A, but if you want to teach your children to fish, you should start out at Ketucky and Allyene Lakes where the fish pond is stocked with plenty of hungry biters!
- Bring your bikes and take the Hedley Back Road — it’s a bit off-the-beaten path and a road that’s less travelled, but you can tour at your own pace, following the course of the river between Princeton and Hedley.
- Unplug from the world! Limited cell service in the Similkameen Valley means you’re only plugged in if you’re in our main towns — otherwise, you are out of reach and off the grid — perfect when you’re getting away from it all!
- Take a cool break at the Princeton Museum and Archives, step into a homesteader’s cabin, imagine the life of a homesteader, try your hand at using pioneer tools, discover the glow-in-the-dark display in the rock room and watch your kid’s faces light up, learning about our past.
The Similkameen – No Hassle Traveller Style
Explore all the possibilities of the Similkameen — a short three-hour drive from Vancouver or Kelowna. Soaring mountain peaks, a narrow valley carved by the Similkameen River, with lots of wide-open spaces and friendly faces waiting to welcome you here. We’re a little off the beaten path, but still easy to get to, making it the perfect getaway you crave. When you come, make your motel or camping reservations in advance. Our accommodations here are similar to the Similkameen: rugged, rustic and… real limited.
Bring the whole clan along for a Similkameen Valley vacation. Soak up the sun and the easy-going charm of the Similkameen River, playing by its shores. Bring your pop tent and a sleeping bag for everyone building campfires and warm summer memories of nights spent sleeping in the great outdoors. Slip away onto the trails once traveled by the Hudson Bay Brigade and discover hidden waterfalls, wildflower meadows and views as far as your eye can see. Choose your own adventure on a Geo-cache treasure hunt the whole brood will enjoy, taking the guesswork out of hiking, roaming wilderness trails in search of buried fortunes!
For the No Hassle Traveller We Suggest…
Soak up the good life
You just can’t beat a day at Bromley Rock. Park your chair by the sandy shore and watch as kids take turns jumping into the river, swimming and drifting the afternoon away. Catch up on the latest beach book or jump in yourself and feel the heat of the day melt away in cool running waters…escaping your daily routine, even for a little while can easily re-energize you.
Build warm summer memories
Join in a generations-long tradition, pitch a tent, build a campfire, roast wieners and marshmallows, perfect your version of the ideal S’more, and make warm family memories of nights spent sleeping together under the stars. We have six Provincial Parks and almost as many private RV campgrounds making a quick weekend getaway easy as pie.
Walk in the footsteps of history
The Hudson Bay Brigade, with the help of their First Nation’s guides, first blazed trails through the Similkameen in 1849. More than 150 km (92 mi) of trails were restored, creating a wilderness wonderland that’s easy to explore. Set off for an afternoon, a day or a multi-day trek. Breathe in the fresh air as you hike through old growth forests from Peers Creek to Tulameen. Round the corner and you’ll discover hidden waterfalls, tranquil streams and whispers of our fur-trading past.
A fortune hunt for the whole family
Geo-caching makes exploring on your own just that much more easy and fun…for the whole family. GPS coordinates guide you to hidden caches containing the treasures of the Similkameen…Billy Miner’s hidden stashes of gold, perhaps? There are 80 different caches in the Princeton/Tulameen/Coalmont area alone waiting for you to uncover them.