Things To Do In Osoyoos WIth Family

What are some cheap things to do in Osoyoos with family? There are plenty of things to do with kids in Osoyoos, it’s like the family vacation destination of British Columbia. Did you know that the warmest fresh water lake in Canada (yes all of Canada) is Osoyoos? The average temperature in July and August is 24 degrees Celsius. Osoyoos is also Canada’s only desert environment, hence the rattlesnake sightings.

Heading to the South Okanagan is quite a long road trip from Vancouver, almost a 5 hour drive (or even longer with the terrible traffic on hgihway Number 1. However, the destination is worth it.

Here are a few things to do in Osoyoos with family:

Osoyoos Lake

A trip to Osoyoos is not complete without going to the aforementioned Osoyoos lake, which is the warmest fresh water lake in Canada.

It is really is warm.

One of the popular beaches at Osoyoos lake is Gyro Beach. It is a great beach because it is kid friendly and the sand is perfect for sand castle making or moat digging. There are also bathrooms close by and even an area near the washrooms where you can wash sand off your feet.

There were a lot of little green insects (they looked like translucent flies) at the beach, flying around but they didn’t seem to bite.

Rattlesnake Canyon

Rattlesnake Canyon in Osoyoos is a great place to bring your kids- firstly, because admission into the amusement park is free.

You just have to buy tickets for the rides you want to go on. Kind of like a “pay as you go amusement park”.

You can also buy a day pass too if you desire. The fun thing is that the rides don’t operate until there are people who actually want to go on the ride (save energy and human capital for running the amusement park, I suppose).

Rattlesnake Canyon has an 18-hole mini golf course, bumper boats, go-karts (for older children), a rock climbing wall, and a large arcade with an assortment of nostalgic games like Dance Dance Revolution and numerous racing car games.

For 2023, the prices are as follows:

• $5.75 for the helicopter ride
• $7.50 for a bumper boat ride
• $7.75 for rock climbing
• $5.95 for Tilt-A-Whirl

There is a daytime special for $25.95 with one ticket each for the bungee tree, tornado, tumble whirl, rock climbing, and bumper boats.

You can also “pan” for “gold” or gemstones. $14.95 gets you a small bag of sand with gemstones inside. The kids just loved panning for their gemstones.

Nk’MIP WINERY

The NK’MIP winery was a great place to stop by for a wine tasting. It is the first indigenous-owned winery in North America.

For $5 you can sample 4 different wines (unfortunately the days of ‘free’ wine tasting if you buy ab bottle of wine seem to be over for many wineries after COVID).

They were kind enough to let our children have their own “tasting” and try some sparkling juice too. Of course we bought two bottles of sparkling juice in addition to some great wine.

The views of Okanagan Lake and Anarchist mountain from the NK’MIP winery estate are beautiful.

You can also stop off and enjoy some food at The Bear, The Fish, The Root, The Berry restaurant at the adjacent Spirit Ridge Hotel (run by Hyatt). There is couch and lounge seating which can be nice if you have young kids who want to sit on couches. The venison burger was delicious. They also have a kids menu.

covert Farms

Although this is 30 minutes away from Osoyoos (in Oliver, BC actually) I would say it’s worth the drive to visit Covert Farms in Oliver with kids.

Covert farms has wine tasting for the adults and farm animals for the kids. What a great marketing scheme and a great way to get parents to be able to visit wineries without feeling guilty leaving the kids without something fun to do!

In addition to wine, they have a beautiful kids charcuterie made up of organic vegetables, fruits, juice, and edible flowers grown right on the farm for $10.

The farm animals were actually a little underwhelming (it’s a self guided tour for the most part but you are allowed to let yourself into the chicken area) but the big bouncy pillow (I would recommend bringing your children’s socks, the bouncy pillow was scalding hot in the heat) and the ginormous slip-and-slide is fun and pretty unique.

Covert Farms is a pretty family friendly destination if you want to have some wine tasting while allowing the kids to run around safely outside.

If you want to book a reservation, you can, and this avoids having the children wait around too much (we all know how children dislike waiting).

U-Pick Cherries

There are a number of U-Pick cherry locations around Osoyoos. Hillside Orchards and U-Pick is just under 15 minutes drive from Osoyoos. Hillside also has farm animals (chickens, turkeys, and goats) for little kids to admire.

Hillside has different size buckets for cherry picking and cute smaller metal baskets for kids to use as well. The staff were very friendly as it is a family run orchard.

Picking cherries with young kids is actually fun, they certainly feel grown up climbing a ladder and grabbing cherries (as long as you are close by supervising). Many branches were low enough for young kids to pick without going on a ladder.

U-Pick cherries is around $3 a pound around the Osoyoos area.

Playgrounds in Osoyoos

Of course, playgrounds are always a hit with your kids and are free to enjoy. There are two that are close to the main part of town in Osoyoos.

Kinsman Park right beside Rattlesnake Canyon has shaded areas in the playground and lots of shaded areas for a picnic as well. The views of the surrounding mountains are beautiful.

Another playground that is just past Gyro Beach and called Lions Park. It is a playground overlooking Osoyoos Lake, it is also very picturesque.

Hopefully this list was helpful to help you plan with to do with travel in Osoyoos with family and kids.

Are there any other cheap things to do with kids in Osoyoos that you like doing?

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