Mount Nkwala or Gerry Mountain is a mountain terrain hike on the West Bench of Penticton (Interior Okanagan). This mountain is located on the Sylix Okanagan First Nations Lands. I grew up on the West Bench which was a 5-minute drive away from the entrance to Mount Nkwala hike. This mountain is best known for its 6.1-loop trail, 1.5 hours up and 45 minutes back down. However, this mountain also had many smaller trails and mountain biking paths, as well as a disk golf course at the bottom of the mountain near the parking lot.
Mount Nkwala is located on the Penticton First Nations reserve but is accessible to the parking lot. The story of how Mount Nkwala got its name is stated on the BC Geographical Names page of the BC Government website. It begins with Hwistesmexe’qen, known more commonly as N’Kwala or Nicola, named after a 19th-century Indigenous leader who exemplified fatherhood. Chief N’Kwla had 50 or so children of his own, and he was also responsible for the wellbeing of many others through his roles as Grand Chief of the Okanagan Peoples and Chief of the Nicola Valley Peoples. N’Kwala was born circa 1785 at either the head of Okanagan Lake or near Nicola Lake to Okanagan Chief Pelkamu’lox and an unknown Stuwi’x woman. N’Kwala became Grand Chief of the Okanagan Peoples after his father was killed in 1822. He was later granted the title of Chief of the Nicola Peoples following the death of his uncle Kwali’la.
My family and I have been hiking this mountain for as many years as I can remember living on the West Bench. We typically went on a shortened version of the loop that heads up to the East side of the mountain looking over Penticton and the rest of the Okanagan Valley, that stops a cell tower. The west bench is full of beautiful native wildlife like horses, deer, birds, squirrels, coyotes, and so on. This hike just reminds me of a quick regular Sunday hike to get out get some fresh air and enjoy some family time. No matter the time of year, this was a regular quick hike for my family and me.
I blogger by the name of Steve from “Life is Adventure” wrote an amazing post on a more in depth write-up about this mountain hike! I would recommend reading it!
