The official start of the BC Parkway is Science World - located at Terminal and Quebec Streets in downtown Vancouver and adjacent to the Main Street Sky train station and the inner city bus and train station. This is one of several maps located along the route that outlines the route, major attractions and who's sponsering this section or flower garden or plaza.

The route winds it way through east Vancouver until it connects with the Nanaimo Skytrain station and then follows Skytrain alignment all the way to its terminus at Westminster Quay in downtown New Westminister - a distance of some 20+ kms.

The route follows both lightly travelled city streets and then a dedicated pathway.

It climbs until it reachs the Metro town and then descends until it reaches its terminus.

It has a number of connections to other bikeways which will be noted and also passes through a number of park etc.

The idea for this parkway was first conceived back in the early 80"s as the Skytrain project was being completed in time for EXPO 86 - it is a joint effort of government, private, community organizations.

The bike route is sponsored by 7 -11 and the walkway part by John Molson - nobody seems to observe the signs but the route is wide for the most part so just show common courtesy and share the way. These two signs are widely displayed all along the route - I will post a better one of the 7 -11 one shortly.

If you have an older map of Vancouver's bikeways the alignment of the route was changed a few years ago to take it off some busy city streets and even the latest route isn't my favorite so I will describe the official route as it heads for Nanaimo station but will provide an alternate route that will avoid a major uphill section near the start. This is the route that I most often take as I live only a block from the official route.

From Science World follow the signs for BC Parkway and Seaside routes to the corner of First and Ontario - continue straight on Ontario crossing 2nd Ave on a controlled light - continue south to 5th Ave -turn left or east onto 5th ave - cross Main St on a controlled light for one block then turn right on Scotia for one block then left onto 6th and east to St Georges then right on St Georges to 7th( Alternate route) then left on 7th and down and then up a steep hill to Clarke drive - cross Clarke and continue on 7th to Woodland - turn left and then right onto N Grandview highway - you can right the sidewalk or the road here and then follow the signs to Lakewood and the junction with the Lakewood route - then right or south and cross 12 Ave and then proceed to Trout Lake. Trout Lake is one of the few fresh water lakes located within the City of Vancvouver and is a great place to picnic, swim or ice skate in season. It provides some great views of the North Shore mountains. Here you can see from the Lions to Grouse Mt .

ALTERNATE ROUTE: At St Georges and 7th continue south on St Georges - cross Broadway at controlled light - turn left at 10th ave - cross Fraser street - traffic is usually not to bad for crossing - continue on 10th down to Clarke Drive - while no light here and fairly heavy traffic there is a bike friendly medium that should allow for a fairly easy crossing - after crossing continue on 10th to Commerical Drive - cross Commerical and then proceed one block to Victoria - turn right and go south for 3 blocks to 13th - turn left and continue east until you come to Lakewood or Trout Lake Park.

At Trout Lake the route will leave the park and start a short 3 block climb up to the Skytrain guideway which it now follow all the way to its terminmus. You will pass the junction for Midtown and Sunrise routes - in fact you follow them for a short distance.

All of the Vancouver bikeways have signage as seen below and where a bypass is available they two are signed.

The route is now fairly obvious and easy to follow until you cross Boundary road. Here you will go through BC TEL property and then up to Kingsway - you will see the overpass - climb it, cross the road and proceed into Central Park - an ideal place to explore if you want to add a few more kms to your ride but remember the trails have a 10Kmp limit and have fairly heavy pedestrain traffic at times.

After leaving Central Park you will continue east into the Metro town shopping complex - this is essentially the height of land and the route is mostly flat for the next couple of Kms until you get to Edmonds station - lovely park and stream here - trails take off and wind down to the Marine Way area.

In this picture I am near the Royal Oak station - the route is level and the pathway separated from the road.

As you leave Edmonds you will start to descend more rapidly and also start to get great views of Mt Baker, New Westminster and the broad Fraser River delta.

At 22nd St station the route winds and twists until it crosses 20th St - ride the far sidewalk to continue down to the last major road crossing.

At 22nd St station you are at the Queensboro bridge and Marine Way - you can cross the bridge and ride through Richmond and return to Vancouver via Knight St bridge and then the Ontario bike route back to your start or take heavily used Marine Way - wide shoulders back into Vancouver and then either the Sunrise or Ontario bike routes back to your start.

Here's one of your first views of the Westminster Quay development along the banks of the Fraser River.

After crossing the Marine way nightmare - continue downhill past the Scott Paper plant and into the Westminster Quay area - it is best and safest to use the 3rd st overpass to access the Quay and not try to cross all the railroad tracks - once across the overpass follow the riverfront walkway to the Quay - lots of river scenes and views - remember this is a shared route now so stay off of the wooden walkway .

This trip and pictures were taken on a warm sunny day in September 1999 and the fall flowers along the extended broadwalk were very impressive.

At the Quay - stop for lunch, a little shopping or at the end of October, the Royal City Star - riverboat casino will be opened.

Here's a picture of the Royal City Star - which is being renovated to operate as a riverfront casino. It should prove popular as it is located just a short five minute walk from the New Westminster Skytrain station.

As for a return to Vancouver and your start - you could return the same way or check back as I will be posting a road trip back to Vancouver under Urban treks.

NOTE: IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE YOUR BIKE ON ANY OF THE SKYTRAIN CARS AT THIS TIME AND TO MY KNOWLEDGE NONE OF THE BUSSES OPERATING IN THIS AREA ARE EQUIPPED TO TRANSPORT BIKES AT PRESENT BUT TRANSLINK HAS BEEN UPGRADING THEIR FLEET OF BUSSES AND MOST NEW ONES ARE BIKE FRIENDLY.

© 1999 Dennis M Baher aka the urban trekker.com. All photos are the property of the the owner, Dennis M Baher, aka the urban trekker.com. If you wish to link to this site please e mail the copyright owner at mailto:urbantrekker@canada.com

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 18, 1999