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