Kootenay Rockies Weekend
Two passes and 226 km
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Why this ride
Scenery first, traffic last, with checkpoints that make sense on a bike. Out of Richmond and back again: 226 km, roughly 4 h 06 in the saddle. It goes by way of West End, Scenic stretch near Bowen Island, near Lions Bay and Maple Ridge. The climbs: Richmond and Near Maple Ridge, on the way back. It tops out at about 950 m. Much of it runs through woodland.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near Richmond
fuel
The point lies on the western edge of Richmond, out where the city gives way to the mudflats and marshes of the Fraser River delta. Richmond is built almost entirely on flat delta land, protected by dykes from the river and the sea, and the western shore, along Sturgeon Bank, is a wide expanse of mud, eelgrass and tidal channels, important for migrating birds. On a clear day, the view across the Strait of Georgia to the mountains of Vancouver Island is wide and calming, and the sunsets are often spectacular.
At the south-western corner of Richmond lies Steveston, an old fishing village at the mouth of the Fraser, where boats still sell fresh fish and prawns directly from the dock. The Gulf of Georgia Cannery, once one of the largest salmon canneries in British Columbia, is now a national historic site and museum, telling the story of the fishing industry and the many Japanese Canadian, Chinese and Indigenous workers who made it run.
Richmond also has one of the most vibrant Asian food scenes in North America. The city has a large Chinese Canadian population, and its malls and restaurants serve some of the best dim sum, noodles and seafood outside Asia. In summer, the night markets are a lively, crowded experience with food stalls of every kind.
As a starting point for the Sunshine Coast ferry ride, Richmond is practical but requires a trip through Vancouver. The route north crosses the city, the Lions Gate Bridge or the Second Narrows, and then heads west along the North Shore to Horseshoe Bay, where ferries leave for Langdale on the Sunshine Coast. Traffic in the Vancouver area can be heavy, so allow plenty of time and leave early. Richmond has fuel and services everywhere. The weather on the coast is mild but often wet, especially from October to April, so good rain gear is essential.
- Richmond
pass
Richmond is built on mud, and proud of it. The city occupies Lulu Island and neighbouring islands in the delta of the Fraser River, just south of Vancouver, land so flat and so low that much of it sits barely above sea level behind a ring of dykes. Vancouver's airport takes up Sea Island to the west, the North Shore mountains rise beyond the city skyline, and on a clear day Mount Baker floats above the delta to the southeast, a white volcano across the border in Washington.
Two Richmonds coexist. The centre is one of the most Asian cities in North America, with huge malls, Chinese restaurants, bubble tea shops and a summer night market that draws crowds from all over the region, and the food is a very good reason to stop. At the southwest corner of the island lies Steveston, an old fishing village with wooden docks, boats selling fish straight from the deck and the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, a national historic site that tells the story of the salmon canning industry and the Japanese Canadian fishermen who worked here before their internment during the Second World War.
The riding around Richmond is flat and urban, with traffic lights, busy roads and few curves, though the dyke roads by the river and the sea offer open views and the scent of salt and mud. Wind can blow strongly across the delta. The Mount Baker loop heads south across the border into Washington State. You will need a passport and the right documents for the bike, and waits at the crossings can be long at weekends. Once across, the Mount Baker Highway climbs east from Bellingham through forests along the Nooksack River toward the mountain, ending at Artist Point, usually open only in late summer when the snow has melted.
The weather is typical of the coast: mild, grey and wet from autumn to spring, and often bright and pleasant in summer. Fog sometimes hangs over the delta in the morning. In the mountains, snow can remain on the high roads until July.
Richmond has fuel, food and every service, and many locals cross the border to fill up in Washington, where fuel has often been cheaper. Keep receipts and know the duty-free limits if you bring anything back. Before or after the ride, a bowl of noodles in one of the city's many Asian restaurants is hard to beat.
- Near West End
finish
Vancouver's West End is one of the densest neighbourhoods in North America, a grid of apartment towers and old wooden houses squeezed between downtown, Stanley Park and English Bay, and yet it feels oddly relaxed. People walk everywhere, the streets are lined with trees, and at the end of every road, it seems, there is water or mountains or both. As the finish of a ride, it is hard to beat for atmosphere.
Stanley Park, on the edge of the West End, is a vast area of forest on a peninsula jutting into the harbour, bigger than New York's Central Park, with huge cedars and firs, beaches and a seawall path that runs right around it. You can ride the park drive, a one-way road that loops through the forest with views of the harbour, the North Shore mountains and the Lions Gate Bridge, a graceful suspension bridge built in the 1930s that links the city to West Vancouver.
English Bay Beach, at the foot of Denman Street, is the place to be at sunset. Freighters anchored in the bay wait for their turn to enter the port, the sky turns orange and pink, and the beach fills with people sitting on logs and watching the light. In summer, an international fireworks competition is held here over several nights, attracting huge crowds.
The Mount Baker ride, which ends here, involves a border crossing into the United States and back, so remember your passport and be prepared for queues at the border, especially on weekends. Coming back into the city, traffic can be heavy, and the downtown streets are full of pedestrians, cyclists, buses and one-way systems. Parking is tight and expensive in the West End. There is fuel on the main arteries, though fewer stations in the central neighbourhoods than you might expect. Restaurants and cafés of every kind line Denman and Davie streets, so at least dinner will not be a problem.
- Scenic stretch near Bowen Island
scenic
Scenic stretch near Bowen Island, about halfway.
- Photo stop near Lions Bay
photo
Above Lions Bay stand the two granite peaks that gave the village its name, The Lions, visible from much of Vancouver and known to the Squamish people as the Twin Sisters. The village itself clings to steep slopes above Howe Sound, a scatter of houses among cedars and firs, with a small beach and a marina far below. It is a residential community rather than a stop with services, but the setting is spectacular.
The road that brings you here is the Sea-to-Sky Highway, Highway 99, which runs from Horseshoe Bay to Squamish and Whistler. It was rebuilt and widened before the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the result is a fast, flowing road carved into the cliffs, with the fjord glittering on one side and rock walls on the other. The views across Howe Sound to the islands and the Coast Mountains are superb, especially in the morning light. A little further north, Porteau Cove offers a good place to pull over by the water.
The road demands respect. Traffic is heavy on summer weekends and holidays, with impatient drivers and lots of RVs. Rockfall and wet surfaces are a real risk, especially in the rainy months, when water streams across the road from the slopes. Speed enforcement is common, and the corners can tighten unexpectedly. In winter, snow and ice are possible, and the road is best left to cars.
Squamish, under the huge granite face of the Stawamus Chief, is a natural break point before continuing towards Whistler or Mount Baker on the cross-border loop.
- Near Maple Ridge, on the way back pass
- Food stop in Maple Ridge
food
A break here at 220 km.
- Back to Kootenay Rockies
finish
It is a landscape that looks empty and is not: each tide carries it from shining water to glistening mud and back, and every square metre is grazed by birds.
The Fraser delta lies on one of the major bird migration routes of the Americas, and the flats and marshes here, including the nearby Reifel Bird Sanctuary, support hundreds of thousands of birds in winter and spring. Western sandpipers arrive in huge flocks in April and May, feeding on the biofilm that coats the mud, and at certain times of year the whole shore seems to ripple with their flight. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons and short-eared owls hunt over the grass. Seals haul out on sandbanks, and at the right season, salmon pass through on their way upriver.
Steveston, the old fishing village at the south-west corner of Richmond, is the nearest settlement and the best place to get your bearings. It was once one of the busiest salmon canning centres in the world, home to dozens of canneries and a large Japanese Canadian fishing community, which was forcibly removed in 1942. The Gulf of Georgia Cannery, now a national historic site, preserves the machinery and stories of that period. The boardwalk along the working harbour is lined with fish stalls where you can buy prawns or salmon straight off the boat, and the fish and chips are widely praised.
The ride along the river dyke from Steveston to Garry Point is flat and quiet, with a path used by cyclists and walkers, and the main roads of Richmond are straight and busy. Traffic on Steveston Highway slows to a crawl at commuting hours. A day starting at the Kootenays, in the high interior, is a long way from here, but the Fraser Valley freeway brings you down to the sea in a few hours.
Richmond has more than enough fuel, restaurants and shops. Garry Point Park is a good place to fly a kite or watch the sunset over the Strait, with a great view of the mountains of Vancouver Island on a clear evening.