Biking the Myra Canyon Trestles in Kelowna: The Complete Trail Guide

Myra Canyon is one section of the larger Kettle Valley Rail Trail, and it's the section built almost entirely on trestle bridges and rock cuts, which is why it draws visitors who have no interest in the rest of the historic railway route. The numbers below cover the core stretch between Myra Station and Ruth Station, the part almost everyone means when they say they biked Myra Canyon. In plain numbers: the route crosses 18 trestles and passes through 2 tunnels between the two stations.

Last verified: August 2026. What the table doesn't capture is how the trail feels underway, which the sections below cover, along with the practical side of getting there and deciding whether to rent a bike at the trailhead or bring your own.

Myra Station, the main trailhead most riders use, sits about 25 km from downtown Kelowna, roughly a 40 minute drive. The route runs out through East Kelowna onto the Myra Forest Service Road, and the last 8 km of that road are gravel. It's a well-used forestry road rather than a rough backcountry track, and a standard 2-wheel-drive car handles it fine in dry conditions at a sensible speed, though it's worth slowing down for washboard sections and oncoming traffic on the narrower stretches.

There's a second approach from the Ruth Station side via June Springs Road, which involves about 4 km of gravel plus a rougher 1.5 km stretch beyond that. Most first-time visitors stick with the Myra Station approach since it's the more established route and the one with the larger parking area. Both trailheads have free parking, and outhouses are available at both stations as well as at the 4 km mark along the trail itself, so there's no need to plan around a lack of facilities.

One detail worth knowing before setting out: cell coverage is inconsistent once you're past the trailhead and into the canyon itself. Downloading an offline map or screenshotting directions before leaving Kelowna is a reasonable precaution, since relying on a live signal partway along the drive or the ride isn't a safe assumption here.

Myra Station has an on-site rental operation running through the main season, April 25 to October 13, 2026. Regular bikes are available in two session blocks, 9:00 to 13:00 and 13:30 to 17:30, and e-bikes run on a slightly different schedule, 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00. An adult half-day rental runs about CA$39 plus tax, and online reservations are strongly encouraged rather than assuming a bike will be available on arrival, particularly on a summer weekend.

Bringing your own bike costs nothing beyond getting it and yourself to the trailhead, and it's the obvious choice for anyone who already owns a bike they're comfortable riding on gravel-adjacent, unpaved terrain. A hybrid or gravel bike suits the trail surface better than a pure road bike, and anyone without their own suitable bike but wanting to skip the rental session-time structure should weigh the guided full-day option instead, which supplies equipment as part of the package.

The trade-off between the two isn't really about cost for most visitors, CA$39 plus tax is a modest outlay next to a day trip to the canyon, it's about convenience and timing. Rental sessions run on fixed blocks, which works fine if your schedule matches them, but riders who want full flexibility over when they start and finish are better served bringing their own bike or arranging a rental elsewhere in Kelowna with more open return hours.

The trail surface is compacted gravel and crushed rock, wide and even for a former rail bed, and the 2.2 percent maximum grade means there's no stretch that feels like a real climb, just a steady, gentle rise heading out from Myra Station and the same gentle drop coming back. Most riders find it comfortable on a standard bike, and it's one of the more approachable multi-hour rides in the region for that reason, families with older kids and casual riders manage it without much trouble.

The trestles themselves are the reason to be here. Riding out onto one of the taller crossings, with open air on both sides and the canyon floor well below, is a genuinely different sensation from anything else on the trail, and it repeats 18 times at varying heights, the tallest around 55 metres. The two tunnels add a shift in atmosphere too, dark, cool, and a break from the open canyon views on either side, short enough that they're more a novelty than a hazard.

Benches are placed at intervals along the route, useful for a water break or simply taking in a view without pulling off onto the trail's edge. Cell coverage isn't consistent through the canyon, so treat the ride as a genuine break from connectivity rather than something to livestream along the way. Outhouses sit at both end stations and at the roughly 4 km mark, which is worth knowing if you're riding with kids or simply prefer not to plan a full return trip around a single stop.

Riding Myra Canyon on your own and pairing it with wineries you pick yourself is entirely possible, and for anyone who already owns a bike and is comfortable planning their own route between estates, it's the cheapest path by a wide margin. The trade-off is everything the DIY version leaves on your own plate: booking tastings, driving between wineries after already having driven to and from the canyon, and coordinating timing across two separate parts of the day. The alternative is the full-day guided combo at US$217, which folds both halves of the day into one booking.

Last verified: August 2026. The guided full-day option folds the canyon ride and the winery half of the day into one continuous trip, with equipment and a guide included and the driving handled for you between stops. It's the more expensive route on paper, but it removes the two separate logistics problems, coordinating a canyon visit and coordinating winery stops, that a DIY day otherwise leaves you to solve yourself.

For the deeper breakdown of what guided versus self-guided actually costs across this site's tours generally, see guided vs self-guided formats.

There's a middle path too: ride the canyon yourself in the morning on your own schedule, then book an afternoon-only wine tour or simply drive yourself to a couple of wineries for lunch and tastings. It costs more thought than the fully guided day but less money than nothing, and it suits anyone who wants the canyon on their own terms while still handing the wine half of the day to someone who already knows which estates are worth the stop.

The Okanagan Mountain Park fire in 2003 tore through this area and destroyed 12 of the trail's 18 original trestles, along with a large stretch of surrounding forest. It was a serious loss for a trail that had already become a well-known regional landmark, and rebuilding it wasn't a quick fix, the trestles had to be reconstructed to modern safety standards rather than simply patched back together.

The work was completed and the trail reopened by 2008, and what riders cross today reflects that rebuild, structurally new bridges built along the historic railway alignment rather than the original early-1900s wood. It's worth knowing the history while riding across a trestle or through a tunnel: the burned hillsides around parts of the route are still visible in places, a reminder of how close this trail came to being lost entirely rather than simply a scenic backdrop.

The trail is remote enough, and cell coverage patchy enough, that it's worth treating this like an outdoor excursion rather than a quick errand, even though the ride itself is gentle.

• Water, more than you think you'll need for a 2 to 3 hour ride
• Layers, mornings at elevation run cooler than downtown Kelowna
• Sun protection, sunscreen and a hat, there's little shade on the open trestles
• Snacks for the ride, especially if riding with kids
• A fully charged phone, even with patchy coverage it's useful for photos and emergencies
• A printed or offline-saved map of the trail and the drive in

Myra Canyon rewards almost anyone willing to make the drive out, the trestles and tunnels are worth the trip on their own, and the gentle grade means it doesn't take a serious cyclist to enjoy the full 12 km. Whether that means loading up your own bike, reserving one at the trailhead, or handing the whole day over to a guide who pairs the canyon with an afternoon of wine tastings comes down to how much of the planning you want to do yourself.