Trail Name: Aviation Way – River’s Trail
Distance: 3.7km (although can vary)
Time: Under 1 hr (although can vary)
Difficulty: Easiest
Cell Service: Yes
Trail: Wide, well groomed, packed gravel. Turns to single track sand path. Completely flat.
Highlights: Flexible length, beside the river, sandy beaches, DOGS!
To get there: From downtown Kamloops, head west down Landsdowne St and across the Overlander Bridge (Blue Bridge). Continue on Fortune Dr. Roughly 2.3km from the bridge, you’ll come to the intersection of 8th street, Fortune Dr and Tranquille Dr., continue straight onto Tranquille Dr. In about 4.7km turn left onto Aviation Way. Continue to the end of the street where the parking area is. Park here. Or get directions from Google here.
We tend to park at the very end of Aviation Way where the radar tower and washroom is. From there, we climbed climbed the berm and started down the path heading downriver. Shortly down the trail, you will come to an intersection where you can go right and keep to the Rivers Trail along the berm, or you can head left along the alternate route which leads you more through the trees and towards the beach access. We followed the Rivers Trail to the right along the berm. We followed this trail for about 1 km until we came to another intersection that allowed us to cut down towards the beach and the alternate trail. We followed the alternate trails back as well finished the loop.
This path is part of the much longer Rivers Trail. This section is particularly popular with dog walkers as it is an off-leash dog area. During the early spring and fall, the river is low enough to allow endless running and playing on the sandbars with your dog. This trail can be as long or as short as you’d like depending on which trail you explore, or how much of the beach you check out. Although this trail was still a little bit muddy when we checked it out in early March, it is one of the first trails to dry up in the spring. This area is also gorgeous in the fall as the area is primarily lined with deciduous trees.
Marilyn
11 Mar 2018I just love your site! New to Kamloops and am filing these away so that I can explore soon. Thank you so much!
Hike Kamloops
11 Mar 2018You are so very welcome! Welcome to Kamloops!
Joan
19 May 2019I just moved here from Ontario a month ago and so glad a fellow dog owner in my neighbourhood suggested this site to me! I love it. We did this Aviation hike today, as I have a young energetic dog and an older, slower dog, who still enjoys going for walks, but many of the trails are a bit hard for her.
This one was perfect!!!! My young dog ran and played and my older dog could take her time, and had no strenuous climbs to do.
I’m looking forward to doing more of your suggested hikes.
Hike Kamloops
19 May 2019Hi Joan, so glad you and your pups enjoyed Aviation Way! Another cool area to check out would be the Dallas-Barnhartvale Nature Park. It’s off leash dog friendly and the Benchlands trail is mostly flat and offers some great views at the end! Happy hiking!
Joan
19 May 2019Cool, I’ll do that next weekend! Thank you!!!