We love BC because of its wilderness and proximity to nature. Who doesn’t enjoy the closeness to mountains, rivers, and seemingly endless greenery that our province has to offer? That said, one of the most iconic settings of the Lower Mainland is a man-made lake: Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam.
Did you know? This area was originally an open-pit mine owned by Lafarge and transferred to the City in the ’70s.
Overall, the lake is a beautiful walking haven all year round. Sure, during Christmas this transforms into nothing short of a ‘winter wonderland’, but is as calmingly delightful to walk around any time.
Lafarge Lake view on an overcast February afternoon.
Hope we’ve kindled your interest to visit. Get your Compass card ready and off we go to the Lafarge Lake-Douglas SkyTrain station on the Millenium Line. This part of the Evergreen Extension was opened to public since 2016. The modern station is comfortable to navigate: roomy and naturally lit glass elevators, a secured bike parkade and some fun artwork like the Translake by Trent Hutton outside the station.
We initially had our concerns with walking around the usually car-heavy streets in this neighborhood, but found it to be quite comfortable (and inviting we might add) to walk around. Even the intersection between Pinetree Way and Gildford Way, which might feel challenging at times, has some enhanced pedestrian-friendly additions. The push-to-walk button can be activated even by just waving close to it. Such a welcome relief to not worry about sanitizing your hands after every contact. The curb ramp has Detectable Warning Surfaces which are great improvements towards providing safe walkability to all.
We mostly walked just around the lake. You might find yourself needing to walk in a specific direction as directed by the park authority, considering physical distancing norms. It is fully accessible and pretty much flat, comfortable and did we say, pleasant.
However, there isn’t only a lake to walk around. Encircling it there is the Pinetree Community Centre, Town Centre Park, TD Community Plaza, Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam City Hall and the Douglas College, Coquitlam Campus.
If you’re anyone like us, you’ll be left asking for more after this walk. If you’ve got some extra time you may want to consider hopping on to the 191 (bus) for a full in-nature hike. The short hike up Crystal Falls isn’t open anymore though. As my walking-partner (my 2+ year old) loves playgrounds, we walked up Davie Avenue and Coast Meridian Road to end our walk at Queenston Park. Assured fun alert! Just a side-note that the entire walking path terrain is uphill.
Happy Walking!
This blog post is by BEST’s Isabel Garcia. #walkability
