A Natural StairMaster: Knox Mountain

Knox Mountain Park is located walking minutes north of Kelowna's downtown core, adjacent to Okanagan Lake.  The 230 hectares park offers stunning vistas of Okanagan Lake, Kelowna and the surrounding area as well as a variety of trails with a range of difficulty for walking, running, hiking and mountain biking.  Its base is approximately at 345 m and 610 m at the top (Okanagan Lake surface elevation is 342 m).

The 'stairmaster' route combinations I mention are for the fitness oriented folks.  If your visiting Kelowna check them out.  They are not as gruelling as North Vancouver's Grouse Grind that climbs 853 m over a distance of 2.9km nor does the top offer an opportunity to buy a snack or beer, shop, fine dine or pay to take a gondola back down.  Nonetheless Knox Mountain has substantial vertical trails that will warm up your biceps femons, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, heart rate and is less crowded!

Caution: washrooms are limited.  At the base parking lot area is a "Porta Potty' and at the 2nd Pavillion at the top are washrooms and a water fountain.

The stairmaster routes can be followed by using the trail map guide provided by the "Friends of Knox Mountain Park.  Tip: click the map to enlarge.

• Natural Stairmaster Route A - 5km approx.: Start from the Lower Parking Area, take Trail 1 right to the top to the 2nd Pavillion, then return down Trail 1 till you come upon Trail 9, then take Trail 8, Trail 10 to the Lower Parking Area
• Stairmaster Route B - 7 km approx.; Start from the Lower Parking Area, take Trail 1 to the 1st Pavillion, takeTrail 3 to Trail 7, Trail 3 to the 2nd Pavillion and take the Knox Mountain Road back to the Lower Parking Area
• Stairmaster Route C - 7 km approx.; Start from the Lower Parking Area, take Knox Mountain Road all the way to the 2nd Pavillion and return.  This route climbs approx. 265 m over 3.54 km.

Here's some photos from Knox Mountain:

Gordon and Pavillion Trail have about seven sets of stairs to help with challenging vertical climb

Terrain is grassland with Ponderosa Pine

Early morning or late afternoon is a great time to do the challenging Knox Mountain vertical trails

Kelowna downtown area, W.R. Bennett Bridge and West Kelwona

Looking straight down Richter Street

Dilworth Mountain and Black Mountain in the distance as well as South East Kelowna

If you're a visitor or newcomer to Kelowna the following sites are helpful:

Friends of Knox Mountain Park -  a registered charitable society composed of interested citizens committed to advocacy and active stewardship of Knox Mountain Park

Knox Mountain Management Plan - City of Kelowna

Knox Mountain topography map - Google Maps

'Mother Nature's stairmasters' can be found throughout the Okanagan which I will highlight in future blogs.