Okanagan. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Safety information
- Rock climbing involves risk and should only be attempted by properly equipped and experienced climbers. Access trails may be steep and rocky and may expose users to cliffs or steep drop-offs. Use caution.
- Bring your own drinking water as potable water is not available in the park.
- Vehicle break-ins: There have been a number of recent vehicle break-ins at the parking lots at Skaha Bluffs. If possible, don’t leave valuable items in your vehicle. Ensure that any valuables are out of sight and that your vehicle is locked. Report suspicious activity and thefts to the RCMP.
Special notes
- Dogs must be leashed at all times in the park: This park protects a rare and fragile ecosystem, and experiences increasing visitor numbers each year. Dogs impact park values, posing a threat to wildlife, ecology, and public safety. Keeping dogs leashed reduces their impact.
- Campfires and camping are not permitted.
Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.
Visit responsibly
Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:
Maps and location
Getting there
Skaha Bluffs is south of Penticton on the east side of Skaha Lake. Access is from Lakeside Road to Smythe Road up along Gillies Creek.
Parking
The parking lot access road gate is seasonally closed from mid-November to mid-March and closed daily from dusk to dawn. There is no overnight parking permitted in the park at any time.
There is no parking along the single-lane park access road. Visitor numbers are high on long weekends in spring and fall. As the parking lots fill up, vehicles parking along the paved park road have caused access and safety concerns. Cars parked on the single-lane road present a physical barrier to emergency vehicles (fire, ambulance, search and rescue) and impede regular traffic flow. Overflow parking is available at the bottom of Smythe Road.
Things to do
The area contains essential habitat for bighorn sheep. Please keep your distance from bighorn sheep as they can be very territorial and sensitive to human presence.
Dogs must be leashed at all times in the park. This park protects a rare and fragile ecosystem, and experiences increasing visitor numbers each year. Dogs impact park values, posing a threat to wildlife, ecology, and public safety. Keeping dogs leashed reduces their impact.
Mountain biking restricted to designated trails. Bicycles must keep to roadways. Bicycle helmets are mandatory in British Columbia.
Mountain biking is only allowed on the designated routes in the Gillies Creek corridor. No new trail building or climbing is allowed in this section of the park. These trails are multi-use and dogs must be leashed.
For a map see maps and location.
Please note that bicycles with electric assist motors (e-bikes) are permitted on signed or designated trails within Skaha Bluffs Park, provided they meet the definitions and criteria for e-bike use as outlined in the BC Parks cycling guidelines.
Facilities
Accessibility information is available for this park.
Pit toilets are located at the parking lots. There is a gate on the access road that is open from 7 am to dusk.
This park only has pit toilets, no flush toilets.
About this park
Skaha Bluffs lies within the asserted territory of the Okanagan Nation Alliance, with the closest geographical member band of the ONA being the Penticton Indian Band. The greater land area holds tremendous spiritual and cultural significance to the Okanagan Nation.
Recreational climbing has been occuring in the area since the 1980s.
The landscape consists of a variety of distinctive terrain features, which function together to provide habitat for many provincially or federally listed species at risk, including bighorn sheep, fringed and small-footed myotis, night snake, and western screech owl. Other notable species include Clark’s nutcracker, pygmy nuthatch, red squirrel, pacific chorus frog, white-throated swift, canyon wren, and western rattlesnake.
- Rugged terrain (i.e., cliffs, crevices, outcroppings and talus) and the grasslands that occur on the shallow-soiled terraces, provide a variety of habitat types. These habitat types include escape terrain, nesting/roosting habitat, travel corridors and foraging areas.
- Grassland benches in the western portion of the proposed park are remnant examples of this habitat type. The majority of these terraces outside of the proposed park along the east side of the Okanagan basin have been impacted by agricultural and residential development. The vegetation is in good condition with far fewer invasive plants than is typical for this site series throughout its range in B.C.
- The park retains critical bighorn sheep ram range, and is a keystone segment of the north-south migration corridor.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.
Contact
| Park operator | This park is operated by Kaloya Contracting Ltd. Please specify the park name when sending or leaving a message. |
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| General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
