Sunshine Coast Ferry Ride · part 3

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Near Richmond

   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.

   Read the complete Fuel stop near Richmond write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sunshine Coast Ferry Ride checkpoint 8 is where the day begins. Next is Sunshine Coast Ferry Ride scenic road.

2. 2. Point Roberts

   When the boundary between the United States and British North America was fixed along the 49th parallel in 1846, nobody seems to have noticed, or cared, that the line would cut off the tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula south of Vancouver. The result is Point Roberts, a small piece of Washington State, about thirteen square kilometres, that can only be reached by land by passing through Canada. To get there from the rest of the United States, you cross into Canada, ride about forty kilometres through British Columbia, and cross back into the US. Bring your passport, and expect four border crossings for a round trip.

   Read the complete Point Roberts write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sunshine Coast Ferry Ride scenic road comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sunshine Coast Ferry Ride high point.

3. 3. Birch Bay

   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.

   Read the complete Birch Bay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   This is where the road stops climbing. Next is Back to Sunshine.

4. 4. Back to Sunshine

   Walnut Grove is not the sort of name that appears on a postcard, and that is part of its charm as the last stop of the day. The point lies in the Township of Langley, in the lowlands of the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, where the land flattens into a broad plain of farms, greenhouses and new subdivisions. A few kilometres to the east, the little town of Fort Langley preserves the old Hudson's Bay Company post, founded in 1827, where in 1858 the colony of British Columbia was proclaimed after the gold rush brought thousands of miners up the river.

   Read the complete Sunshine write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back to Sunshine closes the day.