Garnet Valley & North Bottleneck Drive.

How Garnet Valley & North Bottleneck Drive took shape

Garnet Valley is Summerland's northern rural valley, following Eneas Creek from Highway 97 up to Garnet Lake. It is named for the Garnett brothers, who took up land in 1887, and it holds an 1845 mission camp site, early orchards and today's North Route wineries. The 2026 Bald Range wildfire hit it hard.

Garnet Valley runs north and west from Highway 97 along Eneas Creek, a narrow, partly treed valley climbing toward Garnet Lake. Syilx people used this corridor long before settlers, and the old Brigade Trail passed through on its way to Peachland. In 1845 the missionary Father Nobili set up a camp with Grand Chief Nicola on the shore of Garnet Lake. The District protected about 50 acres of that site as Priest Camp Historic Park in 1998. The valley takes its name from Edgar James Garnett and William Henry Garnett, who took up land near Summerland in 1887, and both spellings, Garnet and Garnett, still turn up on signs and maps. Harry Dunsdon built the district's first irrigation dam here in 1894. After 1902, the Garnett Valley Land Company controlled the water and road and sold orchard land to newcomers.

Water was a mixed blessing: on June 6, 1908 the company's Garnet Lake dam failed, and a wall of water tore down the valley and Peach Orchard Road into Okanagan Lake. Orchards, apple sheds, a potato chip business and, from 1944 to 1958, the Garnett Valley Cannery kept the valley busy. Wine came much later. Okanagan Crush Pad's Haywire winery farms Garnet Valley Ranch, and Solvero opened its tasting room in 2023, helping anchor Bottleneck Drive's North Route. In August 2026 the Bald Range wildfire swept into the valley. Garnet Valley homes were among the last in Summerland still under evacuation order, and Garnet Valley Ranch lost its log house and farm gear, though its vineyard blocks survived. The valley remains rural, with acreages, vineyards and ranch land, and Garnet Lake still stores irrigation and drinking water.

1. 1887Edgar James and William Henry Garnett claim land near Summerland. Source
2. 1944The Garnett Valley Cannery opens, canning tomatoes and then tree fruit until it is sold in 1958. Source

The homes & their setting

Housing is scattered rather than subdivided: older farmhouses and orchard homes, custom homes on acreage and a few vineyard estates. The 2026 OCP puts rural areas like this in its lowest growth tier, with at most one principal dwelling per hectare, so expect freehold acreages rather than strata.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.

Places with a story

• Priest Camp Historic Park — About 50 acres at Garnet Lake protecting the 1845 mission encampment, set aside by the District in 1998. History source
• Isaac Blair home and apple sheds — Built around 1909 and 1910 on Garnett Valley Road by an orchardist who later served as reeve. History source