Top 5 Beautiful Places near Vancouver to Visit

Top 5 Beautiful Places near Vancouver to Visit

1. Alouette Lake

Located within Golden Ears Provincial Park in British Columbia, the lake has its own character and charm. Alouette Lake is a man made lake, the water in it is fed to Stave Lake via a tunnel, and powers the Alouette Powerhouse. She's a beautiful lake, 17 km's long with some great fishing.
There are remote wilderness campsites along her shores, and an eye popping backdrop of Edge Park, Blanshard Peak, and  Golden Ears, which are all part of the Garibaldi Ranges.
No wonder so many movies are filmed up here. It's a wilderness worthy of poetry.
 

© Karen Cooper - Porteau Cove.jpg

2. Porteau Cove Provincial Park

Just a few kilometers north of the city of Vancouver sits beautiful Porteau Cove. It has been a favorite site for decades for the scuba enthusiasts, and recently for night photographers hoping to catch a perfect Milky Way reflected in Howe Sound.

Beachcombing and camping here are also favorite activities. The views are incredible, the waters of Howe Sound never fail to delight the senses.

© Karen Cooper - Minnekhada Regional Park.jpg

3. Minnekhada Regional Park

Minnekhada Park is a nature park in north east Coquitlam, and has several km's of fairly easy hiking trails.

There's a large marsh area with lots of ducks and geese, frogs and even a wee snake or two. Beavers make their home here as well, it's always such a joy to see them paddling their way through the marsh with a tree in tow.

There is an old hunting lodge that you can visit as well, the hiking through large cedars and marsh lands will have something to please everyone.

© Karen Cooper - Burns Bog.jpg

4. Burns Bog, Delta

One of the best places to visit in Vancouver is Burns Bog. What struck me the most about both of these bogs was how clear and fresh the air seems to be. You can feel it with every breath, it's just ... clean. Crisply clean, you have to experience it to understand the feeling.

Burns Bog covers about 40 sq km's, or about one quarter of the district municipality of Delta.

Burns Bog contains 24 species of mammals and 150 species of birds, and is a domed peat bog.

Amazing life within our city. The light filtering through the trees gave Burns Bog a feeling of primordial eeriness the day I was there. Totally beautiful and definitely worthy of several return trips to catch her in all her seasons and moods.

©-Karen-Cooper - Britannia Heritage Shipyards.jpg

5. Britannia Heritage Shipyard, Steveston

Britannia Heritage Shipyard, located in Steveston, is truly a unique step back in time.

Steveston was the world's busiest deep water fishing port at the end of the 20th century, dotted with 15 fish canneries, hotels, saloons, and gambling dens.

Her boardwalks reflected the voices of Japanese, Chinese, Native Indian, and European immigrants, as well as sailors from around the world.
The Britannia Heritage Shipyard is now a National Historic Site. There is a cannery, boatyard, net loft and restored residences here.

As you slowly wander along the boardwalk, you can hear the cries of seagulls, eagles, and hushed echoes of the past.
Or was I only imaging the past cries of fishermen who loved the sea and make their homes along her shores?