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Three regional parks to choose from
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 by GetawayBC.com
BELCARRA REGIONAL PARK
The long and winding road of Tum-tumay-whueton Drive takes visitors to one of the most scenic – and historical – recreation spots in the Tri-Cities: the picnic shelter at Belcarra Regional Park.
As legend has it, about 3,000 years ago, the region was once home to about 10,000 Coast Salish people during the winter and, in 1971, archaeologists found evidence of their village and activities, uncovering a midden with more than 1,000 artifacts, including bones, tools and remains of wigwams and fireplaces.
According to Takaya Tours, a First Nations company that conducts area tours, the Tsleil-Waututh are descendants of those Coast Salish people and, today, speak a dialect of the Halkomelem language and live near or around the Burrard Inlet.
In 1860, the First Nations people moved from the area known as “Tum-Ta-Mayh-Tun” (translation: the biggest place for people) and, about 60 years later, the Harbour Navigation Company ferried weekend visitors across the inlet to its Belcarra resort, which included a dance pavilion, wharf and cabins.
Although none of this remains, the area continues to be a popular site for hikers wanting to bask in the forested wonderland as well as picnic-goers, scuba divers, anglers, boaters, crabbers and beachcombers searching for prizes along the fertile tidal flats.
A word of warning, though: Groups that make reservations have exclusive use of the covered picnic shelter (complete with an electric barbecue and outdoor pit) and Canada Geese droppings litter the grassy field – so mind where you lay your blanket.
Paddlers, too, can explore Admiralty Point, to the south, and divers can head north to visit the nearby Indian Arm Provincial Marine Park’s Racoon and Twin islands or, further up, Croker Island.
For novice trekkers, the Admiralty Point Trail (7 km) is a perfect stretch that starts in the main parking lot and heads south; take a breather at Cod Rock Trail and enjoy the scenery of Burnaby Mountain, Cates Park and Deep Cove.
Another popular pathway is the moderate Jug Island Beach Trail (6 km), which also starts at the picnic area and ends with a view of Jug Island in Indian Arm. And the Springboard Trail (8 km) is good for cyclists or for people in wheelchairs; however, the connecting Woodhaven Trail (4.2 km) is steep and challenging.
Still, the picnic shelter and its surroundings are only one part of the sprawling 690-hectare GVRD park.
To the east lies Sasamat Lake – the region’s warmest fresh-water lake, well-known for its trout fishing and the sandy White Pine Beach.
Trails, including the easy Sasamat Lake loop (2.5 kilometres), Sugar Mountain trail (good for horseback riding) and the connecting Buntzen Ridge trail are well used but keep an eye out for wildlife as bears, cougars and coyotes have been spotted in the park.
And the Sasamat Outdoor Centre (604-939-2268 or www.sasamat.org) runs year-round and offers a variety of programs: day camp, canoe courses, leadership training and facility rentals for community and school groups.
GETTING THERE: To get to Belcarra Regional Park, follow Ioco Road in Port Moody west. Call 604-432-6359 or visit www.gvrd.bc.ca. Also, make sure to stop at the historic Ioco Village, built for Esso employees in the early 20th century.
MINNEKHADA REGIONAL PARK
If you’ve never wandered through the trails of Minnekhada Regional Park, now is the time to explore the area’s lush gardens, colourful marshes and the historic hunting lodge on the property.
“There are a number different hikes in very beautiful terrain,” said Frieda Schade, area manager for the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s parks department. “It’s unique for its rugged landscape of gently rolling farmland, with the marsh tucked in there surrounded by rugged hills.”
What is now the 212-hectare (523-acre) Minnekhada Park was once part of a larger farm that was owned by various people over the years, the most famous of whom was Eric Hamber. B.C.’s Lieutenant-Governor from 1936 to 1941, Hamber was a multi-millionaire industrialist with interests in logging, mills and manufacturing.
He bought the farm in the late 1920s and, in 1934, built Minnekhada Lodge, an architecturally designed model of a Scottish hunting lodge. It stands on a rocky outcropping and offers stunning views across the Pitt River Valley.
“It’s a magnificent building,” Schade said. “Eric Hamber really put his own signature on the lodge. It’s really an architecturally beautiful and unusual building.”
Because of Hamber’s ties to the logging industry, he had access to the finest timber and most highly-skilled craftsmen of the day, evidenced in the lodge’s great hall, which features a soaring ceiling about 30 feet high with massive exposed beams.
A significant portion of the park is the Minnekhada farm (closed to the public), which was also built and renovated by Hamber. He took what was previously a fairly modest barn and stable and turned it into a 50-stall stable where he raised thoroughbreds as well as polo ponies to use on the fields outside the stable.
The farm also features a dairy building, slaughterhouse and smokehouse. At one time, the property was home to hundreds of cattle, sheep and pigs and was a fully-functioning farm.
In its original capacity, the entire 607-hectare (1,500-acre) property stretched right down to the edge of the Pitt River. The GVRD acquired the lodge and marsh from the province in 1983 and, in 1995, acquired the then 45-hectare (112-acre) farm as part of the Nature Legacy Program. Most of the buildings, which had been leased out and were basically in ruins, have since been stabilized so they won’t continue to deteriorate.
These days, the farm is only opened up every three to five years for an open house, though Schade said it will one day be fully open to the public.
“I think the public will be surprised to see the variety of buildings, all dating from the 1920s and ’30s. One day, it will be an incredible educational asset; the park today is mainly thought of as the lodge and trails but there’s potential for so much more.”
There are 10 km of trails for leisurely walking and hiking, as well as opportunities for bird watching or simply enjoying the view from one of several outlooks. Minnekhada is suitable for exploring throughout the year and each season brings a new swath of colour and activity to the park.
GETTING THERE: From the main Quarry Road parking lot, visitors can head out on any number of trails that cross over the upper and lower marshes (the Lodge Trail passes by Minnekhada Lodge, which offers washrooms and picnic benches). The Mid-Marsh Trail leads to a low knoll viewpoint but continuing on to the High Knoll Trail brings great rewards at the Addington Lookout; this spot overlooks the Pitt-Addington Marsh Wildlife Management Area, which is managed by the Ministry of Environment.
COLONY FARM REGIONAL PARK
Look, over there… it’s a heron. And, over here… an American Dipper.
And if you’re really brave, venture near the bunkhouse, where, if it’s dark enough, you might spot one of the 500 sets of glowing eyes from the bats that call the historic building’s roof home.
Just a few seconds drive off a Lougheed Highway, Colony Farm Regional Park welcomes visitors to a world of serenity where winged animals prevail and humans spend their time embracing nature.
It hasn’t always been that way.
At the turn of the 20th century, patients from nearby Riverview Hospital – formerly Essondale – used to work Colony Farm. The land was the breadbasket for patients at the hospital as well as the health care workers who supported it. It even had a forge, a cannery and a dairy that processed 15,000 pounds of milk every day.
“It was one of the province’s most productive farms and won many prizes for livestock and cattle raising and dairy cows,” said Freida Schade, area manager for the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s parks department. “They raised crops and they raised all kinds of animals there.”
That all ended in 1985 and, less than a decade later, the farm closed, many of its buildings were demolished. It was a prime piece of real estate and many recognized that: it was sought for a range of uses, including a golf course or RV park, perhaps even a replacement site for the PNE.
But a group of dedicated environmentalists had a different sort of vision.
They began lobbying to designate the land as park and, in 1995, the GVRD acquired it for that purpose from the BC Buildings Corporation as part of the Lower Mainland Nature Legacy program. A number of people who pushed for the park – including local environmentalists Elaine Golds, Don and Norma Gillespie, and Christine Hanrahan – helped create the Colony Farm Land Use Plan, which sets out a vision of wildlife, agriculture and passive recreation.
“When we took over the park in 1995, I estimated the use at being 25,000 [visitors] per year. The current use is over 300,000,” Schade said.
“People feel welcome there.”
Another major factor in the park’s popularity was the construction of the Coquitlam River Millennium Bridge about six years ago (the Colony Farm Park Association raised money to pay 60% of the $300,000 price tag). The new bridge, which replaced one that burned down at the hands of vandals in 1995, joins the two halves of the park separated by the river.
Today, Colony Farm Regional Park still holds on to its working roots.
Approximately 300 families visit there regularly to tend to their plots at the organic community gardens – a boost of colour amidst seemingly endless plains of green grass and bushes.
“It’s extremely popular,” said Norma Gillespie, who sits as a director on the Colony Farm Park Association and is also a member of the Colony Farm Community Gardens Association. “So many people are living in apartments and condominiums and don’t have access to a garden of their own… We’ve got people from all over the world, there are so many cultures, and we almost always have a waiting list.”
Even more people visit the park to spot birds, bats, herons and raptors; saunter around the 9 km of trail systems; or pedal their bike along 6 km of pathways.
Two historic buildings on site – the bunkhouse and the manager’s house, both part of Coquitlam’s new heritage register – will be restored pending the success of grant applications and fundraising. The bunkhouse, built in 1911, will be used as a community facility for meetings and gatherings while the manager’s house, built in 1919, will be restored as a home for a caretaker in residence.
GETTING THERE: Heading west on Lougheed Highway, turn left on Colony Farm Road (across from Riverview Hospital). The parking lot is on the left hand side.