Enjoy a scenic village walking tour

Sample chocolates, see historical sport mementoes or view some amazing artwork. Sun Peaks is a tourist town yet many of the community highlights don’t come with tourist price tags. If you know where to look, you can even enjoy them for free.

A village walking tour featuring some of the resort’s unique attractions and activities is now available to assist travellers who want to explore the village at their own pace.

The self-guided walking tour shows what the resort has to offer at a glance. People can walk around the village with the user-friendly village map featuring 14 colour-coded stopping points. Individuals can choose to visit each stop in the tour loop, or tailor it according to their interest.

The walking tour starts at the Village Day Lodge and includes a couple of stops for photo ops. The Sun Peaks Clock Tower is one of the village landmarks and a great place to snap a “We were in Sun Peaks” photo. The giant Sun Peaks lounge chair is also quickly becoming a favourite photo prop among guests.

Eye candy is plentiful for art aficionados. There’s sculptures, paintings, glasswork and pottery crafted by local artists in stores like Tree Line Studios and the Lone Wolf Gallery, and handmade jewellery at Fusion North Boutique. Guests can also admire the western red cedar sculptures outside of the Kookaburra Lodge, called the Sunshadow and Moonshadow, or the Kookaburra Tree tile mosaic displayed inside the lodge’s main entrance.

Sports fans can visit Nancy Greene’s Cahilty Lodge where Olympic skier Nancy Greene’s awards, including the 1968 Olympic medals, are on display.

Sun Peaks is an area inhabited by all kinds of magnificent wildlife, including bears and bald eagles. With a bit of luck and timing, you may catch a glimpse of these grand creatures. Local flora is also plentiful and much easier to spot. A walk along the Secwepemc “Shuswap” Medicine Trail offers information on the local plants and berries that were cultivated in the area. You can also venture past the covered bridge to view some of the wildflowers that blanket the mountains in the summer.

If you brought spending money, there’s a few tempting stops along the way. The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is a famous one for families, especially if the summer heat calls for some good old fashioned ice cream. The yummy scent of fresh fudge, rich caramel and chocolate is also hard to resist. Not a chocolate person? A fine selection of local and international wines and beers are just one stop over at the Sundance Liquor Store.

Of course, you can venture farther than the village and discover other things that catch your fancy. You can listen to the sound of the bubbling creek, walk barefoot on a patch of grass in the playground or admire the spectacular architecture of the houses. Summer in Sun Peaks is about enjoying the sunshine, the scenery and fresh mountain air. What better way to do this than to go out for a walk?

The walking tour flyers are available through Sun Peaks’ tour bus operators. You may also get a copy from the hotels in the village.