Kelowna | Lake Country / Winfield | Westbank / Peachland & Area | Vernon and Area | Penticton and Area | Kamloops/Shuswap and Area | Okanagan Ski Properties
Kamloops B.C. features winters that are generally mild and very short and summers that are quite hot with prevailing dry, and sunny weather. The average July maximum temperature is over 28 degrees Celsius. Kamloops is less than 150 km away from Vernon and less than 200 km away from Kelowna.
Kamloops is a located in south central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson River and near Kamloops Lake. It is the seat of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. It is ranked in the top 40 as one of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in Canada with 90,000 residents.
The Kamloops area was exclusively inhabited by the Secwepemc (Shuswap)
nation (part of the Interior Salish language group) prior to the arrival
of European settlers. The first European explorers arrived in 1811, and
David Stewart set up Fort Kamloops, a fur trading post, on the south
side of the river junction for the Pacific Fur Company in 1812. The
North West Company quickly established Fort Thompson on the northeast
side of the junction, and the following year the Pacific Fur Company
left the area. In 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company merged with the North
West Company and took control of the fur trade at Fort Thompson. In
1842, a new Fort Kamloops was built on the northwest side of the
junction.
The gold rush of the 1860s and the construction of the Canadian Pacific
Railway in the 1880s brought further growth, resulting in the City of
Kamloops being incorporated in 1893 with a population of about 500.
"Kamloops" is the anglicised version of the Shuswap word "Tk'emlups",
meaning 'meeting of the waters'. Shuswap is still actively spoken in the
area by members of the Kamloops Indian Band. Another possible origin of
the name comes from the French "Camp des loups" meaning 'Camp of
Wolves', likely spoken by fur traders.