Fraser Valley

The Fraser Valley is an agricultural region of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is gradually being transformed into suburbs of Vancouver.

Cities
  • 🌍 Langley - the birthplace of British Columbia stretches from the Fraser River south to the US border in the south and is home to a wealth of parks, wineries, agriculture and historical sites. Tourists may be interested in visiting Fort Langley National Historic Site, touring the wineries or The Greater Vancouver Zoo.
  • 🌍 Abbotsford - a major regional town with a significant commercial airport, and a hub of agriculture.
  • 🌍 Pitt Meadows has a small regional airport and sits at the confluence of the Fraser and Pitt Rivers. Pitt River drains Pitt Lake, the only fresh-water tidal body in the world. It is a destination for boating and fishing, with a few small resorts on the lake and the option to do an overnight canoe trip up Widgeon Creek.
  • 🌍 Maple Ridge hosts the only Lower Mainland location for Wild Play and is home to Golden Ears Provincial Park, a major camping and recreation destination for Vancouverites.
  • 🌍 Mission and Kent - home to a Catholic Mission that can be toured
  • 🌍 Chilliwack - where the Fraser River emerges from the mountains
  • 🌍 Harrison Hot Springs - a pretty vacation area next to the mountains
  • 🌍 Hope - gateway to British Columbia's interior and the eastern end of the Fraser Valley

Other destinations
  • Cultus Lake near Chilliwack
  • Lindell Beach - on Cultus Lake
  • Chilliwack Lake

Understand

The Fraser Valley has lush fertile farmland, which contributes a large portion of the local produce. The Fraser is also the world's greatest salmon producing river, and a focus for the region's economy, transportation and culture. The towns of Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and Langley are transforming from agricultural to suburb. Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, and Hope remain closer to their agricultural roots, but are also transforming.

Get in

Transportation into the Valley is limited. There is public regular transit service into Langley, and the West Coast Express train offers very limited service to and from the north Fraser communities as far as Mission on weekdays.

Greyhound Canada

Greyhound Canada terminated all services in Western Canada and Northern Ontario effective October 31, 2018.

Abbotsford is serviced by Ebus bus service from Vancouver, Kelowna, and Kamloops.

Abbotsford is home to an international airport with a few flights connecting to other parts of Canada, though no public transit travels to this airport.

Get around

The towns of Abbotsford, Mission, and Chilliwack have transit service to the most populated areas, including transit connections between these cities. Transit service from Chilliwack to Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs, and Hope are available, but infrequent. Transit connections with the Metro Vancouver's Translink network are available infrequently throughout the day via Langley. From Mission, commuter service to Vancouver is available on weekday morning rush hours and from Vancouver on weekday afternoon rush hours.

A rental car or other means such as a bicycle are needed to access more rural areas of this region or if unwilling to wait for buses, each which run every half hour or less frequently.

See

Do
  • Wine tasting: Though it isn't quite the viniculture hotbed that the Okanagan is, there are a number of wineries in the Fraser Valley. See Domaine de Chaberton Estate, which started it all, and Township 7 Vineyards & Winery, Glenugie Winery, and Blackwood Lane Vineyards & Winery in Langley; The Fort Wine Company in historic Fort Langley; Blossom Winery (famous for ice wine and fruit wines) and Sanduz Estate Wines in Richmond; River's Bend Winery in Surrey; Lotusland Vineyards in Abbotsford; Blue Heron Winery in Pitt Meadows; and Kermode Wild Berry Winery in Dewdney; Westham Island Estate Winery and Wellbrook Winery in Delta; and St. Urban Winery in Chilliwack. Look for the handy Wine Map from the Fraser Valley Wine Association. Consider visiting only three to five wineries in a day, to give yourself time to enjoy the visit, available at most of these wineries. Many wineries will limit you to only three to five wine samples in one visit. Some may charge you a couple of dollars for the tasting, which might be waived if you purchase some wine.
  • Pottery: The Fraser Valley Potters Guild has a handy brochure listing area potters open to tours. Try Simpson Pottery in Aldergrove; Venema Pottery in Abbotsford; Jo Priestly in Mission; Rainforest Pottery, Schellenberg Pottery, and Driediger Pottery in Yarrow; Greendale Pottery in Chilliwack; and The Back Porch in Agassiz. A further list of potters are open by appointment. Call the studios to confirm they will be open.

Eat

Drink

Stay safe

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