Fraser Canyon and Hope + Sea to Sky and Whistler

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Vancouver

   Vancouver is one of those cities where the mountains feel close enough to touch from downtown. The North Shore peaks rise straight out of Burrard Inlet, the Lions Gate Bridge leaps across to them from Stanley Park, and on a clear day you can watch floatplanes take off over the harbour while snow still sits on the summits. It is a big, busy, expensive city, but for a rider it is above all a gateway: to the Sea-to-Sky Highway north, the Fraser Valley east, and, for these rides, the ferries across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island.

   Read the complete Vancouver write-up.

2. 2. Mission

   Mission takes its name from St. Mary's Mission, a Catholic mission and school founded in the nineteenth century by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate on the north bank of the Fraser River. The residential school that grew out of it is now remembered for its painful role in the history of Indigenous people in Canada. On a hill above the town stands Westminster Abbey, a Benedictine monastery whose modern church tower is visible from far away, and whose grounds offer peaceful views over the river valley.

   Read the complete Mission write-up.

3. 3. Hope

   Hope is where the Fraser River leaves the mountains. Upstream, the river roars through the narrow, steep-walled Fraser Canyon; downstream, it widens and slows across the flat, fertile valley towards Vancouver. The town sits at the junction, surrounded by forested peaks, and it has always been a crossroads: the Trans-Canada Highway heads north through the canyon, the Coquihalla Highway climbs north-east over the mountains to the interior, and the Crowsnest Highway runs east through Manning Park towards the Okanagan.

   Read the complete Hope write-up.

4. 4. Whistler

   Whistler began as an idea in the 1960s, when a group of Vancouver businessmen decided that a mountain north of the city might host an Olympic ski area, and it ended as one of the largest winter resorts in North America. The village itself is purpose built, a pedestrian maze of shops, bars and hotels at the foot of two mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb, joined by a gondola called Peak 2 Peak that spans a huge gap between the summits. The name comes from the hoary marmots that whistle from the rockfalls, and the surrounding land is the shared territory of the Squamish and Lil'wat peoples, whose cultural centre in the village is worth an hour.

   Read the complete Whistler write-up.