The Historic O'Keefe Ranch

A Fun Family Attraction In Vernon BC

Join us on our day trip to the Historic O'Keefe Ranch near Vernon BC, where we toured the historic buildings from the cattle ranching days in the Okanagan Valley.

This is a great fun family attraction, and a super way to spend the afternoon touring and learning about the traditional ways things were done in the 1800's.

We say how people dressed, as those who played roles and interacted with visitors, also dressed in western wear from the cattle ranching era.

As we toured through some of the historic buildings we saw displays of original furniture, clothing, saddles and tack, vintage farm equipment, armoury and beautiful pottery.

History

The O'Keefe Ranch was, at one time, one of the largest cattle ranches in all of British Columbia.

Built in 1867, some of the original buildings remain where they were built, like the St. Anne's Church, which was built in 1889.

Cornelius O'Keefe, an Irishman from Ontario, and two partners began driving cattle north from Oregon, to the Okanagan Valley, to provide food for the miners of the Caribou gold fields.

As they discovered that the land they were bringing cattle to was rich with resources suitable for ranching, they bought meadowland just north of Vernon, transported in breeding stock, and began ranching.

They built their land into a massive 20,000 acres.

Like many early ranches in the Okanagan and British Columbia, the ranch was a community with a post office, blacksmith shop and it's own church.

The O'Keefe family continued ranching until 1967 making the ranch the only ranch in British Columbia to be carried on by the founding family for over a hundred years.

The original family home as well as the mansion (a larger home built later on) still stands and contain many original furnishings and other artifacts.

How To Get There

Just follow Highway 97 north of the city of Vernon BC. You'll pass Atlantis Waterslides on the right, and just a short distance from there, take the exit to stay on highway 97.

Address
9380 Highway 97 North
Vernon, BC
V1H 1W9

Here's a handy map to help you.

Click on the link below the map to open a larger map in a new window.