British ColumbiaThe Penticton Indian Band (PIB) in B.C.’s southern Interior has closed a 32-kilometre section of a popular hiking and biking trail on band-owned land because of large sinkholes, rockfall and instability along the route. Risks ‘too great’ for use of 32-kilometre section of KVR corridor, Penticton Indian Band saysJason Peters · CBC News · Posted: Nov 24, 2025 10:46 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.A car-sized boulder that fell from a steep bank blocks a southern section of the Kettle Valley Railway corridor trail near Kaleden in B.C.’s Southern Interior. A large section of the trail has now been closed to the public. (Penticton Indian Band)The Penticton Indian Band (PIB) in B.C.’s southern Interior has closed a 32-kilometre section of a popular hiking and biking trail on band-owned land because of large sinkholes, rockfall and instability along the route.The trail, known as the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) corridor, is closed from Summerland in the north to Kaleden in the south. The trail offers hikers and cyclists scenic views of Okanagan Lake, Penticton and Skaha Lake.The affected section of trail sits on a piece of land that was returned to PIB ownership in 2022. Since then, the public has continued to use the trail, which connects to other sections of the KVR. But the band said recent storms have damaged the corridor, which was already eroding, and that “several portions of the trail are now severely compromised, impassable, and unsafe for any form of public use.”“The risks are far too great for anyone to be on this trail,” said Greg Gabriel, chief of the PIB. “We are asking everyone to respect this closure so that no one is put in harm’s way. Our community and visitors must be protected, and we cannot allow anyone to access an area that is this unsafe.”A sinkhole is shown along a section of the KVR corridor trail on land owned by the Penticton Indian Band, near Penticton, B.C. (Penticton Indian Band)Wooden trestles found buriedJames Pepper, director of natural resources for the band, said there are a few sinkholes “10 to 15 feet deep” on the northern part of the affected section. An assessment has revealed that wooden pieces of the old railway structure are part of the problem.“We’ve done a geotechnical assessment and what we’ve determined in that area is that there are some really old trestles underneath the trail bed,” Pepper said on CBC’s Daybreak South. “So at some point in time, they were buried rather than removed, and now they’re starting to rot, and so the top of the trail has nothing to sit on as they rot.”LISTEN | Section of KVR closed:Daybreak South7:48A section of the KVR corridor is closed to trail users because weather and erosion have made it unsafeThe Penticton Indian Band is enforcing the closure of a section of the KVR corridor because recent weather events have made it unsafe. James Pepper is the director of natural resources with the Penticton Indian Band.Pepper said it’s unclear how far the trestles extend, and where exactly all of them are located.“And so at any given time, someone could just simply fall through, or a bike rider could fall through, or something like that,” he said.On the southern part of the impacted section of trail, near Banbury Green in Kaleden, the problem is a large boulder that fell from a cliff face.“People who walk the trail or ride it know that there’s a long section of pretty vertical cliffs, and so on [Nov. 17] we had a car-sized boulder fall off the side of one of those cliffs and almost completely block the trail,” Pepper said. “And the rest of it is pretty unstable, so that section is incredibly unsafe. It needs proper rock scaling, so we’ve closed the trail because of these two significant issues.” Due to safety hazards, people are being asked to stay off a 32-kilometre section of the KVR Corridor trail on land owned by the Penticton Indian Band. (Penticton Indian Band Guardian Program)The PIB said it has repeatedly posted “no trespass” signs along the trail, but that public use has continued, and signs have even been torn down.In response, Pepper said the band is placing its own people along the corridor to keep watch.Future of trail section up in the airFor multiple reasons, Pepper said it’s unclear if or when the trail will reopen. “We need to have a restoration plan,” he said. “You can appreciate how challenging it’s going to be to get these trestles out of the ground and to remove car-sized boulders. And then we need a long-term maintenance plan.”While the PIB has been maintaining the trail, Pepper said the band also works with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, Trans Canada Trail and other trail organizations on upkeep.He said a collective effort will be needed to be able to move forward with repairs, and he expects the capital cost of any fixes to be significant.Ultimately, Pepper said band membership will make the decision on the trail’s future.“There are many benefits to PIB to keeping the trail open,” he said. “So, not speaking for them, but it’s a beautiful trail. We just need to fix it up.”Tourism Penticton said it doesn’t have statistics for how many people use the KVR corridor trail on an annual basis. The organization did say the trail is very popular but declined further comment.ABOUT THE AUTHORJason Peters is a journalist based in Prince George, B.C., on the territory of the Lheidli T’enneh. He can be reached at jason.peters@cbc.ca.With files from Daybreak South
Sinkholes and boulder shut down popular Kettle Valley Railway trail near Penticton
