Mount Baker Cross-Border Loop
Two passes and 261 km
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Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. 261 km round from Richmond - plan on about 4 h 45 of riding. It goes by way of West End, Scenic stretch near Lions Bay, near Squamish and Aldergrove. The climbs: Richmond and Near Aldergrove, on the way back. It tops out at about 1,200 m. It crosses from Canada into United States - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
Roadbook
- Richmond
fuel
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.
- Richmond
pass
You top out here; the road stops climbing.
- 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 Lions Bay
scenic
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.
- Photo stop near Squamish
photo
Squamish sits at the head of Howe Sound, about an hour north of Vancouver along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and the first thing that hits you is the Stawamus Chief. This massive granite monolith rises sheer above the town and the highway, one of the largest granite formations in the world, and on any fine day you will see climbers inching up its faces.
The Sea-to-Sky Highway, Highway 99, is the reason many riders come here. It runs along the steep eastern shore of Howe Sound from Horseshoe Bay, with the fjord glittering below and mountains plunging into the water. The road was extensively upgraded for the 2010 Winter Olympics and now offers smooth, flowing curves with spectacular views. Traffic can be heavy on summer weekends and during ski season, and speed enforcement is common.
Around Squamish, there is plenty to see. Shannon Falls, just south of town, drops in a series of cascades from the cliffs above. The Sea to Sky Gondola carries visitors up to a viewing platform with panoramic views over the sound. The Squamish Spit is a famous windsurfing and kiteboarding spot, thanks to the strong winds that funnel up the sound in the afternoons. In winter, bald eagles gather in large numbers along the Squamish River to feed on salmon.
Squamish has full services, including fuel, food and coffee. As a start and finish, it is ideal, offering a stunning setting and easy access to the mountains, the sea and the road north to Whistler and beyond.
- Near Aldergrove, on the way back
pass
Mount Baker owns the skyline here. On a clear day the volcano rises white and enormous above the Fraser Valley, across the border in Washington State, and it seems much closer than it is. This stop lies in the farmland east of Aldergrove, between Langley and Abbotsford, a landscape of berry fields, dairy farms and horse paddocks, with the Fraser River to the north and the border just a few kilometres south.
The valley is one of the most productive farming areas in Canada. Abbotsford is known for its raspberries and blueberries, and in summer farm stands along the roads sell fresh fruit by the flat. The soil is rich alluvium, laid down by the Fraser over thousands of years, and the river still floods in wet years.
Across the river, on a hill above Mission, stands Westminster Abbey, a Benedictine monastery with a striking modern church and views over the valley. The monks welcome visitors to the church and grounds, and it is a peaceful place to stop.
The ride to Mount Baker crosses the border at Aldergrove or Sumas, and you will need a passport and the right documents for the United States. Queues can be long on weekends and holidays. Once across, the Mount Baker Highway climbs through forest to Artist Point, with views of glaciers and peaks, but the upper section is open only in late summer and early autumn, depending on snow.
Down in the valley the roads run on a grid, flat and quick, with the mountain sliding from one side of the visor to the other at every turn. Fill up in Aldergrove or Abbotsford before the border, and in July stop at any farm stand with a hand-painted sign. Berries eaten warm from the field taste of the whole valley.
- Food stop near Birch Bay
food
Birch Bay is a wide, shallow, crescent-shaped bay on the coast of Whatcom County, just south of the Canadian border, and at low tide the water retreats a long way, exposing vast flats of sand where children dig for clams and look for sand dollars. In summer, the incoming tide flows over the sun-warmed sand and the water becomes noticeably warmer than elsewhere in the area, making it one of the more pleasant places to swim in the chilly waters of the Salish Sea.
The town of Birch Bay is a laid-back resort community, with beach houses, holiday rentals, a few restaurants and ice cream shops along the shore road, and a state park with campsites, forest and beach at the southern end. On clear days, the view across the water stretches to the islands and the mountains of Vancouver Island, and Mount Baker rises to the east, a great white cone above the farmland.
A few kilometres north, in Blaine, the Peace Arch stands on the border between the United States and Canada, a white monument built in 1921 to celebrate the long peace between the two countries, in a park that straddles the border. The nearby Semiahmoo Spit is a long, narrow sandbar with a resort, a marina and views across Drayton Harbor.
For riders on the Sunshine Coast ferry ride, Birch Bay is a pleasant pause on the coastal route between the border and Bellingham. The roads here are quiet and flat, with views of the water, though the shore road can be busy in summer. Interstate 5 runs a few kilometres inland, carrying heavy traffic to and from Vancouver. Blaine and Birch Bay have fuel and food. If you are crossing the border, check the wait times, which can be long, especially on weekends and holidays, and have your documents ready.
- Back to Richmond
finish
Back at Mount Baker. That is the ride.