Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
complete with grassed areas, lots of outdoor furniture, and a café. Other facilities include
boat and canoe rentals, sailing lessons, and a restaurant and lounge bar. Most of the 337
rooms have private balconies, many with spectacular views across the lake. Within walk-
ing distance of the public hot pool and lake is
Glencoe Motel
(259 Hot Springs Rd., 604/
796-2574,
www.glencoemotel.com
,
$129-149 s or d). The least expensive overnight op-
tion is to camp at one of three campgrounds along the road into town or through town in
lakeside
Sasquatch Provincial Park.
Golden Ears Provincial Park
Returning to the city along Highway 7, the turnoff to the largest of Vancouver's provincial
parks is in Maple Ridge, 34 kilometers (21 miles) west of Mission. From the west, it's a
40-kilometer (25-mile) drive from downtown, either along Highway 1, then Highway 7,
or along the more scenic Highway 7A, a continuation of Hastings Street that follows the
shoreline of Burrard Inlet through Coquitlam. Either way, from Highway 7, take 232nd
Street north for 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), then 132nd Avenue east to access the park.
Encompassing 62,540 hectares (154,540 acres) of the Coast Mountains east of down-
town Vancouver, this park extends from the Alouette River, near the suburb of Maple
Ridge, north to Garibaldi Provincial Park. To get to the main facility areas, follow High-
way 7 east out of the city for 40 kilometers (25 miles) to Maple Ridge, then follow signs
north. Much of the park was logged for railway ties in the 1920s, but today the second-
growth montane forest—dominated by western hemlock—has almost erased the early hu-
man devastation.
TheparkaccessroadfollowstheAlouetteRiverintothepark,endingatAlouetteLake.
The river and lake provide fair fishing, but the park's most popular activity is hiking.
Lower Falls Trail
begins at the end of the road and leads 2.7 kilometers (1.7 miles)
alongGoldCreektoa10-meter(33-foot)waterfall;allowonehoureachway.AcrossGold
Creek,
West Canyon Trail
climbs 200 meters over 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) to a view-
point of Alouette Lake. This trail begins from the West Canyon parking lot, where you'll
also find a 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) trail along the west bank of Gold Creek to Panorama
Ridge and to the summit of the park's namesake, the
Golden Ears.
The name comes from
the way the setting sun reflects off the twin peaks of Mount Blanchard. This trail gains
1,500 meters (4,920 feet) in elevation, making it an extremely strenuous hike, best under-
taken as an overnight trip.
