Rides & Destinations: Salmon Arm, British Columbia

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The Dreamcycle museum in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
The Dreamcycle museum in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
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First-year 1972 Suzuki GT750J at Dreamcycle.
First-year 1972 Suzuki GT750J at Dreamcycle.

The Skinny
What:
Salmon Arm, nestled on the Shuswap Lake system, is a great base for exploring the Okanagan and Shuswap regions of Southern British Columbia. The Dreamcycle museum is about 20 miles away in Sorrento, B.C.
How to Get There:
From Vancouver, take BC 1, the Trans-Canada east, through the Fraser Canyon, or the Coquihalla Highway, BC 5 (faster but less interesting). From central Washington, take US 97 north to the Oroville border crossing and keep going north on BC 97 to Sicamous.
Best Kept Secret: BC 5A from Merritt to Kamloops: a blissful ribbon of twisty tarmac crossing Douglas Lake Ranch, one of the 10 largest ranches in North America. Check your fuel!
Avoid: BC 97C, the Coquihalla Connector. A concrete slab firing over the Thompson Plateau to 5,760 feet at Pennask Summit. It can snow here any time, even in July. Ask me how I know!
More Info:Dreamcycle is open Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sprokkets is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Southern British Columbia is all about mountains and lakes, from the Coast Range to the Rockies. So it’s not surprising that it also has some of the best riding roads on the planet.

For example, on BC Highway 97 from the resort town of Sicamous on Shuswap Lake to Armstrong in the Okanagan Valley, you’ll find a breathless succession of fast sweeping turns as the highway swings along the lakeshore. From sleepy Armstrong, Salmon River Road dipsy-doodles around rolling wheat fields back to the Trans-Canada Highway in Salmon Arm. And if you continue 15 miles westbound on the Trans-Canada Highway, just before the lakeside hamlet of Sorrento is a smart new industrial building bearing the name Dreamcycle.

  • Published on Feb 16, 2016
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