In a scenic setting between Lakes Skaha and Okanagan, Penticton (pop. 35,000, 351 m / 1151 ft) has miles of sandy beaches and marinas. A popular pastime in summer is rafting from here 8 km / 5 mi down the Okaganan River Channel to Lake Skaha.
The town gets its name from the Salish "Pen-Tak-Ton", or "place to stay", since the Indians found that
the good climate and wealth of fish and game meant it was a place where they could stay all year round. Irishman Thomas Ellis was the first European to settle in what is today Penticton, when he started farming cattle on this land in 1866, then in the 1890s the ranch gradually turned into a settlement.
Only 400 people lived here when plans were announced to build the Kettle Valley Railway in 1912, but irrigation projects, land speculation, steamboats chugging up and down the lake, and fruit farms, followed by packing and canning plants, not to mention sawmills, soon transformed the area. Today fruit and tourism are the Penticton's two main industries.
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