Wanted: summer getaways on transit and more, for the July Buzzer
Wanted: summer getaways on transit and more, for the July Buzzer
Got any good summer getaways you can reach through transit, biking, or walking (or even a combination of all three)?
Let me know by June 5: I’d love to publish them in the July 2009 Buzzer!
Just be sure to include what’s great about the spot you’ve chosen, and how to access it by transit, biking, or walking. I’ll try to get as many items as I can in the July Buzzer, credited to you guys, of course!
Why am I asking so early? The July issue gets produced over June, and June is a busy busy month — meaning the July content needs to be ready super early. Also, I’m trying to make you guys get a good long time to contribute if you want to!
And if you’d like some inspiration, you can try the July 4, 2008 Buzzer, which also listed summer getaways by transit and bike. Destinations included Buntzen Lake, Steveston Village, Burnaby Village Museum, Lynn Canyon Park, and Bowen Island.
A couple of my favourites:
* Point Roberts — visit the US’s geographical mistake by bus: take the 601 to 2nd and 54th in Delta, walk (or bike) through Diefenbaker Park and across the border
* Powell River — catch an early-morning 257 to Horseshoe Bay, board the Nanaimo ferry, and catch the ViaRail train in Nanaimo. (12:50pm Sundays, 10:50am the rest of the week.) The train takes you to Courtenay, and then it’s a short walk or bike ride to the Little River ferry dock. (It also works in the other direction!)
How about the 351 to White Rock and Crescent Beach/Blackie Spit Park? The beach is a nice escape form Vancouver’s overcrowded beaches (no ugly buildings, either!) and it’s out of the way just enough to make you feel like you’ve gone somewhere different. You can go for dinner somewhere along the little section of “downtown” White Rock. Take the 351 from Granville and a major intersection to Crescent Beach then the 351 back to White Rock Centre then the C51 or C52 to the “boardwalk” section of “downtown” White Rock. Of course, you can always walk down — it’s quite steep, though.
A few of my favorites.
Crescent Beach – 351 from Burrard Station then ride it all the way to the end.
Burnaby Mountain – 144 from Metrotown Station, 143 from Sperling/Burnaby Lake or 135 From Burrard Stn
Pacific Spirit Park (UBC) – 4 From Downtown, 25 from Brentwood Stn,33 from 29th Ave Stn, 44 from Waterfront Station, 49 from Metrotown Stn, 84 from VCC-Clark, 99 from Broadway and 480 from Richmond Center.
@ Cow:
I like the VIA Rail idea: this way we’re utilising three (possibly four) different transport systems, one of which is conventional passenger rail.
There’s also VIA to Kamloomps, although I don’t know of anything to do in Kamloomps — I only stopped there because the train had a layover on the way from Toronto.
If I may suggest my favourite campsite with no vehicle access, Keats Island. Take bus 250 or 257 to Horseshoe Bay, take the ferry to Langdale then take the Stormaway III to Keats Landing. A mostly easy 40 minute hike and you’re there. Because the campsite is marine access only, it’s quiet and serene with a lovely beach and great hiking trails. Cycling is possible though the roads can be steep and unless you’re a good mountain cyclist you’ll have to leave your bicycle about a 20 minute hike away from the campground. I may be giving away my best kept secret but this is an island to be enjoyed by all who don’t have a vehicle (or want to be resourceful and leave it at home)
Oops forgot to add, the campground is called Plumper Cove Provincial Park!
I think that all the suggestions should be limited to the Metro Vancouver area. If we have to take a bus, plane, or train, then it becomes quite a time investment. Also, we’d be encouraging people to travel outside of the Metro Vancouver area. If I understand correctly, the whole point of this is to encourage car-free outings in the Metro Vancouver area.
Think about how funny it would be to say, “Well, you only have to take the Main St. bus to Pacific Central Station, and then transfer to a train, and then another train, and then another train, and then you’ll be in Halifax!! Don’t forget to bring about 3 weeks of underwear!”. ;^) :^D
Don’t get me wrong. I think that all of these car-free vacations are great. Maybe we can start another thread and then put it in the August issue of The Buzzer?
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Sincerely, and with thanks,
Eugene T.S. Wong
Well, if there are Metro Vancouver destination suggestions, those will likely take priority, mostly since we serve that area and can give lots of detail on transit/bike access with certainty. But I’m definitely open to suggestions about going beyond Metro Vancouver — I think some people will appreciate knowing some far-flung destinations are actually within reach! Within reason of course: as you’ve described, examples like how to get to Halifax probably won’t make it in :)
Deer Lake in Burnaby is a happy little spot. Take the #144 SFU from Metrotown Station, get off at Canada Way & Sperling, walk a couple blocks south, and you’re there! You can walk the boardwalks & trails around the lake, rent canoes & rowboats, go fishing, or have a little picnic on the beach. There is all kinds of wildlife to see including herons, eagles, turtles, squirrels, raccoons, ducks, geese, fish, etc. It’s so quiet & pretty it’s hard to believe it’s barely a 10 minute drive from Metrotown. When you’re done at the lake, you can always walk over to the Burnaby Village Museum, Burnaby Art gallery, or the Shadbolt Centre for some arts & culture too.
Reva, that’s a great suggestion. I’m surprised that I didn’t think of it.
Isn’t the lake too polluted for fishing?
I like Deer Lake too but it’s close to the Burnaby Village Museum option already suggested. There are a lot of things to do around there actually.
If I can suggest one more slightly out of Metro Vancouver idea, Point Roberts is very accessible via the 601 and a bicycle (or walk, it’s a bit of a walk but it’s doable!). I like the park at the southwest corner of Point Roberts.
@ Eugene: I’ve seen actual live fish swimming in Deer Lake, mostly trout and carp-y looking things. Not very big and not sure you’d want to actually eat them, but I’ve seen people out there with fishing rods, so they must be catching something! :)
@Reva
Oh, I know that there are fish there. I was thinking in terms of eating what we catch. We used to fish there, & eat the fish.
My brother went there a few years ago in the morning, & he saw fish jumping a lot.
I really wish that we could protect the lake from pollution.
Woah, if trips outside the Lower Mainland are too far, I definitely think that trips outside the country are way off. I, for one, could never be convinced to go through all the crap to enter the U.S. for a day trip, no matter how nice a particular park is. At least some of the Island trips are still in Canada! We definitely don’t need to be steering people to leave the country. Not only that, but many riders may not be able (or may not be willing) to enter the U.S.
Hey one question about the USA thing tho: no border controls? Just walk thru the park and enter the country???
Ooh! I’m surprised no one mentioned Bowen Island! You take the 257 to Horseshoe Bay then BC Ferries to Snug Cove on Bowen Island. You can even use your ticket/pass from the bus to get you around the island via the C10 and C11!
This means that folks from Surrey or Coquitlam and the like can take a train (SkyTrain or the WCE) then a catamaran, then a bus, then a big ‘ol ferry, then a baby bus (or Community Shuttle, to use the technical term)! Plus, who wouldn’t want to go to a little island that receives more foot traffic than cars and has romantic, picturesque-sounding places like Eagle Cliff and Snug Cove? What a peaceful, relaxing way to spend a lazy summer day…
@ steven:
There most assuredly are border controls, hence my objections to the idea. Some might object to having their picture and fingerprints taken and then being charged a “visa wavier fee”, even hough they have to have a document attached to their passport which looks awfully like a visa and requires removal by border authorities upon departure. Others might not want to be detained and questioned because of their skin colour or surname.
I suppose one could walk across by trespassing through someone’s back yard, but that would be quite illegal (the trespassing and the frontier violation) and could carry serious repercussions. Did you ever hear about the couple who were out boating on Lake Ontario? Their boat capsized, and they were unlucky enough to land on the wrong shore. They were arrested, taken to a detention centre, and charged with a federal crime. And that’s for an accident!
I’ve cycled to Point Roberts numerous times with little hassles. I don’t think they expect much to happen on a secluded peninsula, whereas driving to Seattle used to get my car searched for drugs — BOTH WAYS! It doesn’t happen any more though.
Looking to do a day trip on transit this summer! I have few great suggestions so here they are:Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver; take the SeaBus from Waterfront Station to Lonsdale Quay; from Lonsdale take the #236 Grouse Mountain bus and this bus makes stops at
Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cleveland Dam; for Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge take #229; for Lynn Canyon take #228 Lynn Valley bus! These locations are great for both locals and visitors! The highlight of the trip is the SeaBus as it makes the 12 minute crossing across the Burrard Inlet and this is a passenger only service which is very scenic! I have done these trips many times and are worth it! Lonsdale Quay has a market and hotel right
beside the SeaBus terminal! Hope you enjoy these trips on the North Shore! All transit services are wheelchair accessible.
I recommend the Baden Powell Trail, because you can take transit to 1 end, then hike the trail, and then take transit from the other end.
There is a description on how to get there.
http://www.clubtread.com/Routes/Route.aspx?Route=246
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Directions
Lower end of trail:
The location of the original BP trailhead at Eagleridge Drive is no longer accessible due the re-routing of the Sea-to-Sky highway over Eagleridge Bluffs.
There are two access points at the lower end:
1. Take highway #99 to Horseshoe Bay. There is parking for six cars at the base of the Black Mountain Trail, on the east side of highway #99, between the exit to the ferries and the bridge over to Marine Drive/the village.
2. Take Upper Levels Highway to exit #4 and go west on Westport Drive, north of then under the highway. There is a large area to park on a service road off Westport Drive just below the highway (parking for 20 cars). Walk under the highway on the gated service road and up the Nelson Canyon Trail (Trans Canada Trail), then over to Baden Powell via the Whyte Lake Trail. This route is longer but prettier.
Both of these access points can be reached via bus. For the Black Mountain trail head, take either the 250 or 257 and get off at the traffic circle on Marine Drive near the bridge (or get off on the bridge if on the 257). Walk east across the bridge, cross the highway, and go south (right) along the highway a short distance to the trailhead. To access the Nelson Canyon trailhead, take the 250 to Cranley Drive, walk up Cranley to Seaview Walk, and go up the hill from here.
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The Deep Cove access point is near the end of the line for #211, #212, & #C15.
For a free map of the eastern portion of the web site, go to the City of North Vancouver’s web site.
http://www.cnv.org/
http://www.cnv.org//server.aspx?c=3&i=296
http://www.cnv.org/c//data/3/296/Parks%20of%20North%20Vancouver%20Map.pdf
I hope that helps. I hope to hike that trail, 1 day.
[…] This Buzzer blog post from 2009 also lists some great summer getaways reachable by transit. […]
How about the 160/190 to Coquitlam center mall, then the 701 to Haney Place mall, then the 595 to Langley center, then the 320 to Guilford shopping center, then the C74 to Surrey Central Station, and finally, the Skytrain to Metrotown.
Wouldn’t that be the dream for the shopping lovers!!!
And plus, you would have visited pretty much the majority of east Metro Vancouver.