A half-hour drive north of Vernon, split by Highway 93, is a delightful little town called Enderby.
It is home to the world’s largest reel lawnmower, North America’s largest drive-in movie theatre, and a beagle named Miss P (aka Tashtins Lookin for Trouble), who is famous for winning Best in Show at Madison Square Garden in New York at the Westminster Kennel Club All-Breed Dog Show in 2015.
These are very cool things about Enderby, but I like the town because the Shuswap River flows through here, right where the Shuswap meets the North Okanagan Valley, over which towers the magnificent Enderby Cliffs, 850 meters above the valley floor.
The rock is volcanic; a walk along the trail is a step back 50 million years to the Tertiary age.
The Secwepemc called this place Tplaqin, meaning cliff.
It’s an area where they hunted, gathered wild medicines, and settled before travelling to the mountains beyond.
Those activities still occur today.
The archeological evidence suggests the Secwepemc have used this area for many generations.
The well-maintained, 7-kilometer-ish trail takes you to the summit, where the views are spectacular.
In fact, you don’t even need to go all the way to the summit before the trail opens up to views of the Shuswap to the north and the cliff wall itself.
But for a glorious view of the North Okanagan, with Swan Lake in the foreground and Lake Okanagan to the rear, you will have to climb a little higher.
The most impressive view is at the top.