Rose Valley Regional Park likely won't be open until the fall

Two Central Okanagan regional parks that were hit by wildfires last summer will not be reopened until this fall.

Several parks across the Central Okanagan were closed in mid-August due to the Grouse Complex wildfires.

In early November, the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) said Raymer Bay and Traders Cove regional parks would remain closed until at least April.

At that time, the RDCO said Stephens Coyote Ridge and Rose Valley regional parks would remain closed “indefinitely.”

As of Feb. 28, the Raymer Bay, which is just south of Bear Creek Provincial Park, and Traders Cove are on track to reopen next month.

However, Stephens Coyote Ridge and Rose Valley will remain closed pending assessments.

“It is unlikely that they will reopen in their entirety this year. The best estimate is that a partial reopening may occur in late 2024,” the RDCO says.

A portion of Rose Valley, which is located in West Kelowna, may be reopened to the public in the fall, but a timeline cannot be confirmed, says the RDCO.

Stephens Coyote Ridge, which is in Glenmore, suffered “severe” burn damage and there is currently no timeframe for when the RDCO will be able to reopen the park to the public.

The regional district says assessments are underway but much of the parkland requires “significant” technical assessment, extensive salvage work, infrastructure repair and ecological restoration.

“The process is lengthy and takes into account the environmental damage that could pose a risk to public safety as well as the impacts on wildlife habitat, infrastructure and archeological sites,” the RDCO says.

The assessments for hazards include dangerous trees, ash pits, holdover fires, soil erosion, landslide risk ,water quality, ecological damage, archaeological site evaluation and damage to things like signage and other infrastructure.

The RDCO asks visitors to respect signage and stay out of the closed parks until they reopen.

You can scroll through the Wildfire Recovery in Parks webpage to view pictures of the damage and get up-to-date information on the parks.