Campbell and Munsen Mountain Hikes

View from Munsen Mountain

Hiking Campbell Mountain and Munsen Mountain

There is a good network of old roads and trails on Campbell Mountain that is easy to access from Penticton. Just head up past the Campbell Mountain landfill and take the first road off to the right. It is a bit rough in sections, but not too bad, and is definitely much used by mountain bikers.

Unfortunately there is a lot of garbage strewn around, by people either too lazy or to cheap too use the nearby landfill. I could not believe that even a car had just recently been dumped here. Once my back is healed I will be organizing a clean up of this area, so if you are up to it drop me your name. (There has since been some clean up done, but it is an on going problem.)

I saw ten deer on this trip, but was unable to get the pictures that I wanted because of camera problems. It is an easy climb up to the Defence Department installations near the summit. From here you can see miles of trails and roads on the back-side with great open areas to hike or bike.

The terrain varies from gentle to steep slopes and from open to semi open grassland, so there are lots of great views of Penticton and the lakes. Because of the trees and the guy wires from the towers it is not easy to grab a photo of these views.

If you are up to it, there is a steep trail that heads down to some towers down the hill towards Penticton, then heads back along another old road to get back to your car. We also have met a young lady who hiked up from the bottom to these towers, but I’m not sure where that trail takes off. You can hike these trails for hours here, but remember to leave all gates as you found them and respect no trespassing signs on private property.

Closer to town if you want something a bit shorter, but with great views, spent a little while in the Munsen Mountain Park. Most foot traffic goes to the north peak, but there are also some trails up to the south peaks. There is a gazebo and several benches to relax and enjoy the views. Of course this is the location of the “PENTICTON” sign that you see from across the lake. Munsen Mountain is an open knoll of mainly bunch grass with a few trees amidst the orchards and vineyards. The contrast between the grass, trees, orchards and lakes make a nice snap shot.

Looking down over the graveyard, there are a few people hiking along the Trans Canada Trail along the old Kettle Valley Railway, but that’s a long story.

The city regularly patrols for litter so when I visited it was nice and clean. Note that Munsen Mountain Park is a city park and has a gate at the bottom and one above the parking lot. Dogs must be kept on a leash and there is no camping or vehicle traffic allowed beyond the parking lot. Unfortunately for the romantically inclined the park itself is closed from 9 PM to 6 AM and the gate below the parking lot is closed from 9 PM to 6 AM. There are also doggie bags supplied, so pick up after you dog and future visits will continue to be enjoyable. I am pleased to notice that more and more people are doing this.

This however is a small problem compare to other trash such as bottles, tins, plastics and cigarette butts which take years to decompose. The old saying “Pack it in, pack it out” is good to keep in mind where ever you travel. Keep up hiking and stay in shape for those mountain explorations come summer.