What's New
Swing / Bluegrass Music
Sorrento Centre has become justly famous for its annual
Swing and Bluegrass musical workshops
and the day-long Sorrento Bluegrass Festival. Over the years,
hundreds of budding musicians and more advanced students have
benefited from the expert one-on-one tutelage of some of North
America's finest Swing and Bluegrass musicians.
The twelfth Annual Sorrento Bluegrass Festival is a daylong
showcase for some of the most dynamic Bluegrass performers in North
America. It is set for Saturday, August 28, 2010. Join us for a day
of the "high lonesome sound' of Bluegrass music in all its many
forms, from tight harmonies, lightning fast fingerpicking and
infectious rhythms.
SORRENTO IS ... Bringing
History Alive
Western Canadian history remains alive in the Shuswap, thanks to
those who have lovingly conserved and restored important sites. Day
trips from Sorrento Centre will take you to the
R.J. Haney Heritage Park and Museum in Salmon Arm with its 1918
schoolhouse, church and restored Haney House or the
O'Keefe
Ranch near Vernon. Don't forget to take in the
Chase Museum located in the original Blessed Sacrament Church in
Chase, built in 1909. The museum displays early artifacts and items
of the Shuswap Indians and offers a reflection of life as it was.
SORRENTO IS ... Local Artisans
The Shuswap area's great agricultural heritage is seeing a rebirth
with new artisinal food and beverage producers. Not far from the
Centre you can enjoy tours of
Crannog Ales,
the only brewers of certified organic Irish Ales in Canada. You can
also tour
Recline Ridge and Larch Hill Wineries, the most northern
wineries in the Okanagan Valley, and sample their products!
Larch
Hills Winery specializes in cool climate grape growing. To go
with your wine what better than some cheese. Stop in and take a tour
of
Gort's Gouda Cheese Farm in Salmon Arm, producers of all-natural
cheeses in the traditional Dutch style
SORRENTO IS ... Birdwatching
Osprey, great blue herons, bald eagles, bluebirds and yellow
warblers abound in the area around Sorrento Centre. In fact, this is
one of Canada's prime birdwatching sites with over 250 native
species. You can set out on your own with your binoculars, or you
can visit one of the many birdwatching trails, including the Salmon
Arm Bay Park, one of only two breeding grounds for the elusive
western grebe
in British Columbia.
SORRENTO IS ... Aboriginal Heritage
You can learn about the world of the Shuswap people (the
Secwepemc) at the Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park, one of the
major tourist attractions in Kamloops. Owned and operated by the
First Nations and situated on the Kamloops Indian Reserve, the
museum and outdoor displays recreate a 2000 year old Shuswap
village.
SORRENTO IS ... Fishing at its Finest
Keen anglers will be in for a treat as they set out from
Sorrento Centre. The Shuswap area boast some of the finest fishing
in the province with kokanees, rainbows and lake trout as well as
salmon teeming in our pristine lakes and streams. Local outfitters
will be happy to set you up with a great day's fishing.
SORRENTO IS ...
Golfing at its
Best
With spectacular views and dramatic elevations, the three 18
hole professional golf courses close to the Centre provide
challenging and enjoyable courses for golfers at any level of
expertise. There are also driving ranges nearby and for the kids,
Putt's Parlour miniature golf is a short walk from the Centre.
SORRENTO IS ... Spectacular Sights
Margaret Falls reveals itself gradually as you take a short walk
through giant old growth cedars in the Reinecker Gorge, over bridges
spanning fast running water, until you reach the magnificent Falls.
Once there, you can marvel at its beauty, and the adventuresome can
wade through the Falls to the cave behind it.
more...
SORRENTO IS ...
The Adams River Salmon Run
Every October sockeye salmon return from the Pacific Ocean to the
mouth of the Adams River, a short distance from Sorrento Centre, to
spawn and die. The salmon run is the largest in the world, with
millions of sockeye salmon ending their dramatic upstream battle to
return to their birthplace to carry on the cycle of nature.
SORRENTO IS ... Year-round Outdoor Fun
While the Shuswap is justifiably famous for its summer fun - with
boating, white water rafting, parasailing and horse-back riding
opportunities all available in easy reach of the Centre - it is also
a winter playground. Groomed snowmobile trails, a 150 mile
cross-country skiing network at the
Larch
Hill Ski Area and Skamana Lake, and of course ice fishing on
White Lake are there for the adventurous. There is also the annual
Dog
Sled Race in Falkland.
SORRENTO IS ... A Ribbon of Steel
There is no shortage of railway history in Sorrento. The Notch
Hill area was once a bustling scene of railway activity during the
late 1800s and early 1900s. At one time there was a CPR roundhouse
here, a pumphouse, sandhouse, water & oil tanks and coal chute, a
bustling community. Because of the very steep grade, the steepest in
Canada, it was necessary for the CPR to have "pusher" locomotives
stationed here to help the trains on their way. Today you can sit
and watch the trains with their powerful diesel engines make the
circular track up the grade. Or you can take a ride on the "Spirit
of Kamloops", a restored 1912 Canadian Northern Railway train,
the only surviving train of its type.
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