I thought I would write a few tips about travelling west with your dog. Myself, Yvonne, and our dog Ash recently when camping along the crowsnest pass all the way to the BC coast. Along the way we stayed in Nelson and Summer Land. We stayed at the Kokanne Creek Provincial campground near Nelson. It was a large site with some great trails for walking the dog. Although we didn’t have a reservation we managed to get a spot with our friends and their dog.

While we were there we spent some time in Nelson looking in the shops and eating in the restaurants. For your morning coffee I recommend Oso Negro, although it is really busy, and if you like Indian food Baba’s is the place to go. But the best part about Nelson, at least for Ash, was the huge off leash area. The off leash area is between the aircraft landing strip and Kootney lake. There are bags at each end and several garage cans along the way. There is also sandy beaches and plenty of drinking water from the lake.

We moved on from there to Lake Okanagan and stayed in Summer Land at the Peach Orchard campground. It was a great spot and a short walk from the lake. But the best part about it, at least for Ash, was the dog beach. Just a little walk down the beach from our campsite is a fenced area right on the lake for off leash dogs. Our dogs had a great time swimming and visiting with the locals who brought their dogs down. There are picnic tables, bags, garbage cans, and a short distance away through the kids water park are washrooms.

I thought other people might appreciate this information as travelling with your dog can be tough if you have never been to where you are going before. Knowing in advance where, if any, off leash areas are certainly helps. Ash is very good in the car but I feel bad if he doesn’t get a good run in during the day.

Anyhow, hope this information might help someone. If anyone else has any dog travelling tips I’d love to hear them.

Jesse