| The Okanogan River (called the Okanagan River in its | | | | typical of much of Interior British Columbia (e.g. |
| upper reaches in Canada) is a tributary of the | | | | Shuswap and Adams Lakes elsewhere in the same |
| Columbia River, approximately 115 mi (185 km) long, in | | | | season, the original Arrow Lakes and Kootenay |
| southern British Columbia in Canada and north central | | | | Lake). Below Mabel Lake is the last stretch of the |
| Washington in the United States. It drains a scenic | | | | river west towards the town of Enderby at the |
| plateau region called the Okanogan Country east of | | | | north end of the Okanagan Corridor, after which the |
| the Cascade Range and north and west of the | | | | Shuswap River drains into Mara Lake. Mara Lake is |
| Columbia, and also the Okanagan Valley of British | | | | connected via a channel named Sicamous Narrows to |
| Columbia. | | | | the Salmon Arm of Shuswap Lake at Sicamous which |
| It rises in southern British Columbia, issuing out of the | | | | empties via the 3.5km canal-like Little Shuswap River |
| southern end of Skaha Lake, which is on the south | | | | into Little Shuswap Lake. At that lake's lower end is |
| side of the city of Penticton, British Columbia from | | | | Chase and the beginning of the South Thompson |
| Okanagan Lake. It flows south past Penticton, | | | | River. |
| Okanagan Falls, Oliver and Osoyoos, crossing the | | | | Tributaries of the Shuswap River include Wap Creek, |
| international border into Washington near Oroville in | | | | by which a short pass at Three Valley Gap connects |
| Okanogan County. Osoyoos Lake on the river spans | | | | to Highway 1 between Craigellachie and Revelstoke. |
| the U.S.-Canada border. From Oroville it flows south | | | | History |
| through the Okanogan Region, past the town of | | | | The Shuswap River has a long history of use for |
| Okanogan and forming the western boundary of the | | | | transporting both people and goods. Log Drives were |
| Colville Indian Reservation. It enters the Columbia | | | | once an annual event, with logs sent down the river |
| from the north, 5 mi (8 km) east of Brewster, | | | | from Mabel Lake during the high waters of spring |
| between the Wells Dam (downstream) and the Chief | | | | runoff to the many lumber mills along the banks of |
| Joseph Dam (upstream). | | | | the Shuswap River in Enderby, Grindrod and Mara. |
| It receives the Similkameen River from the west and | | | | During the late 1800s, paddlewheelers transported |
| Oroville. It receives Omak Creek from the east at | | | | goods and people up the Shuswap River from Mara |
| Omak, Washington, 5 mi (8 km) northwest of the | | | | Lake to Enderby at Fortune's Landing, where they |
| town of Okanogan. | | | | would be transported by stagecoach to Okanagan |
| Early maps of the fur trade era show the Okanogan | | | | Landing west of Vernon. Many a paddlewheeler |
| River as the "Caledonia River", a name conferred as it | | | | became beached on shifting sandbars in the river, and |
| was the connecting route between the Columbia | | | | transportation was slow. With the opening of the |
| District and the New Caledonia Fur District (which | | | | Shuswap-Okanagan Railway in 1892, the need for |
| began north of Okanagan Lake). | | | | paddlewheelers on the Shuswap River declined. |
| The basin of the Shuswap River lies northeast of the | | | | Recreation |
| Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. It is the upper | | | | The Shuswap River is now a popular destination for |
| part of the drainage better known to British | | | | canoeing, kayaking and tubing. The Shuswap Hut and |
| Columbians as belonging to Shuswap Lake and the | | | | Trail Alliance is proposing a Hut and Trail system |
| South Thompson River. | | | | which will join the Shuswap River waterway to over |
| The river is in three sections, an upper part beginning | | | | 280km of mountain hiking trails surrounding Shuswap |
| at Joss Pass, at the northern end of the Sawtooth | | | | Lake. The Annual Kayak Rodeo is held at the |
| Range of the Monashees and emptying into Sugar | | | | beginning of June at the Kingfisher Rapids near Mabel |
| Lake southeast of the south end of that range. The | | | | Lake. The Tube Float is an Annual Event on the |
| next section of the river curves south from Sugar | | | | Shuswap River, with hundreds of locals and tourists |
| Lake to wind up running north again before entering | | | | participating. Fishing is popular during the annual |
| Mabel Lake, which is a fair-sized mountain lake as | | | | Salmon Run in late August - early September. |