Sicamous, Heritage paddle steamer in Penticton, Canada.

The SS Sicamous is a steel-hulled sternwheeler with four decks, measuring 200.5 feet long and 40 feet wide. Its dining hall has a mezzanine balcony and clerestory windows, and the original boiler and engines remain on display. The ship is beached on Lakeshore Drive West in Penticton as part of the S.S. Sicamous Marine Heritage Park.

The Canadian Pacific Railway commissioned the Sicamous, which was built at Okanagan Landing from prefabricated parts shipped from Port Arthur, Ontario, and launched on 19 May 1914. It served for twenty-two years, carrying passengers and freight between Okanagan Lake communities. In 1935 it was converted mainly to cargo, reducing berths from 80 to 20, and it was retired in 1936. In 1951 the Penticton Gyro Club bought the ship and brought it to Penticton.

The vessel shows how water transport shaped daily life in this region for generations. Travelers depended on these boats to connect scattered communities, making the boat central to how people moved and lived.

The boat is open for visitors from May through September, and you can explore the cabins, engine room, and dining areas on your own or with a guide. It is helpful to allow extra time to walk through the different levels and see all parts of the ship.

After retirement in 1936, the Sicamous sat at Okanagan Landing until 1951, when the Penticton Gyro Club bought it and brought it back to Penticton. The ship is now the largest steam-powered, steel-hulled sternwheeler in Canada, and its boiler burned 1,720 kilograms of coal an hour.