Okanagan, Lake

Lake in southern British Columbia, 275 km/170 mi east-northeast of Vancouver. Measuring 113 km/70 mi from north to south, and 3–6 km/2–4 mi wide, it is popular with holidaymakers for its warm climate and attractive beaches. The main settlements on its shores are Vernon, Kelowna, and Penticton.

Lake Okanagan is the largest of a number of postglacial lakes in the fertile Okanagan Valley region, noted for its fruit production. Long inhabited by the Okanagan (or Interior Salish) people, the area was explored by missionaries in around 1840. From the southern end of the lake, the Okanagan River (or Okanogan in the USA) flows for 190 km/118 mi, through Skaha and Osoyoos lakes, into the north of Washington State. After forming the western boundary of the Colville Indian Reservation, it joins the Columbia River near Brewster, 64 km/40 mi west of the Grand Coulee Dam.