Summary

Starting near Swan Lake on Saint Annes Road, the route heads south to Vernon while climbing slowly. Highway 6, eastbound from Vernon to Lumby, has wide shoulders and climbs gradually; strong riders can easily maintain over 30km/h on this stretch. The main climb of the day (400m+) is on Trinity Valley Road from Lumby to Ashton Creek, followed by a long, gradual descent into Enderby. Traveling backroads from Enderby to Armstrong includes one small climb, followed by one final short climb after Armstrong to finish the ride. While this route only has one large climb, the total elevation gain is close to 1500m in the complete 124km ride.

Points of Interest

• Spallumcheen Golf & Country Club @ 1km
• O’Keefe Ranch @ 2km
• Back to Earth Cosmetics @ 30km
• Lumby / Kraft Hockeyville @ 40km
• Aston Creek @ 84km
• Enderby Cliffs @ 89km
• Enderby @ 93km
• Armstrong @ 110km

Surfaces & Traffic

From Swan Lake to Vernon there is moderate traffic and wide shoulders on Highway 97, followed by light traffic and narrower paved roads through Vernon on Greenhow Road and Pleasant Valley Road. Light traffic and good pavement on Buchanan Road are followed by smooth pavement and moderate traffic with wide shoulders on Highway 6 to Lumby. Trinity Valley Road has light traffic, rough pavement and some gravel as it climbs from Lumby to Ashton Creek. The road into Enderby is smooth pavement with narrow shoulders and moderate traffic, depending on the season. Backroads from Enderby to Armstrong are good pavement, narrow shoulders, and light traffic.

Refuelling

Lavington @ 30km:

• Lavington Superette Service Station
• Tony’s Craft Cidery
• Bluenose Mountain Deli
• Lavington Market

Lumby @ 40km:

• Ida’s Bakery
• Ana’s Pizza
• Millie’s Kitchen
• Blue Ox Pub

Aston Creek & Enderby @ 84km-93km:

• Ashton Creek General Store
• Hungry Jack’s
• Country Coffee House
• Southerland’s Pizzeria & Bakery
• Small Ax Road House

Armstrong @ 109km:

• Tucker’s Restaurant
• The Anchor Inn Spudders Pizza N’ Tacos
• The Wild Oak Cafe
• The Brown Derby Cafe

Key Segments

• Buchanan East Bound segment includes only the 3½km climb/descent section of the road, averaging 0.7% gradient. The totality of Buchanan Road is 9km in length and is a fantastic TT simulation segment with a rolling gradient, but mostly flat and FAST.
• Lumby to Enderby is a long, 52km segment that includes the main climbing segment of the day; Trinity Valley Climb South 10.9km at 2.6% gradient. The steep portion of this climb is detailed in the 2½km, 6.8% segment called Trinity Valley Road Climb.
• Canyon Road segment is a popular climbing segment from Enderby to Armstrong. This climb just never seems to stop, even though it’s only 2.8km long at 4.6% gradient, it twists through the trees and will be a challenge near the end of this route.
• Grandview Hill is a 3km 2.3% climbs up from Otter lake to the end point of the ride.

Options

Reversing the route is an option, which allows for altogether different climbing and descending experiences on Trinity Valley Road, also the journey from Lumby to Vernon is slightly downhill. This opens up many other strava segments in the area as well.

The option for riders to travel through Coldstream, instead of on Buchanan Road can make this route more leisurely with additional food and sightseeing stops; staying on Highway 6 all the way to Lumby will keep the route flatter and faster than diversions through Coldstream or Buchanan Road.

Starting the route from Enderby—parking at the (outdoor) community pool— is another great option to begin the journey!

Enjoy!

And please be sure to…

• ride safely,
• let us know what you think about this route, and
• follow us on the grams & tag us along with #okroute11!