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Fraser Valley Roadtrip: Daffy Dally

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by BCAA in BC

ROADTRIP

Springtime in the Fraser Valley Is blooming amazing

by Liz Bryan

Jaunt: Fraser Valley Ramble

Distance: Approx. 350 km   Fuel: 1/2 tank

Duration: Weekend

Prime Time: April

Tunes: “The Four Seasons: Spring” (Vivaldi)

This meander through the Fraser Valley capitalizes on spring in bloom – everything from dandelions and fields of daffodils and tulips to wonderful country-fresh edibles. Also, looping from Fort Langley to Hope and back, the itinerary eats up very little gas yet easily includes two days’ worth of attractions. Best experienced on a weekend – preferably that of April’s Bradner Daffodil and Flower Show, when the valley’s fields of gold are at their best.

Leg One: Fort Langley to Agassiz (approx. 170 km)

From the historic fur-trading post still standing in the village of Fort Langley (about 50 km east of Vancouver), take quiet, narrow River Road (88th Avenue) to mooch along the Fraser River to the pioneer settlement of Glen Valley. Glen Valley Regional Park stretches along the riverbank above the Two-Bit and Poplar sandbars, both popular fishing venues. Just past the picnic area, turn right (south) along Lefeuvre Road to McTavish, which leads east onto Bradner Road.

Roadtrippers arriving in Bradner on the weekend of April 9 to 11 will find the local Daffodil Festival in full swing. Thousands of the flowers have been grown on the high ground here since 1914, when English pioneer Fenwick Fatkin first planted the Dutch bulbs on his farm as an experiment. South down Bradner Road: the Village hall, which showcases the festival’s flower show (first held in 1928), with more than 400 varieties of the bloom. The adjacent schoolyard hosts a plant and flower market popular with local gardeners; a tea garden provides good homemade fare. Roadside stands sell bunches of flowers and local growers provide wholesale and retail supplies and take orders for fall home delivery of bulbs. Best flower fields: East side of Bradner Road and along Haverman Road.

North of Bradner Hall is the village’s 1911 general store and gas station (beside the railway tracks at the corner of 58th Street and Bradner Road); farther north is Jubilee Hall, where the festival’s arts and crafts show takes place. Post-festival, drive south down Bradner Road and, just before the road dips under the freeway (Hwy. 1), swing left (east) onto Downes Road and stop in at the Rossdown Farm Market for “nest-to-plate” poultry products, honey, ethnic breads and veggies (604-856-5578). Farther along is Tanglebank Country Garden and its colourful display of bedding plants. Keep east on Downes Road for about nine kilometres; it jogs north via Seldon onto Clayburn Road as it crosses Hwy. 11 and leads three kilometres to the Village of Clayburn, B.C.’s first company town.

HISTORIC CLAYBURN, CIRCA 1925 Founded in 1905 by Charles Maclure to house workers at his Clayburn Brick Works, the village has maintained its historic centre: a dozen old homes, a heritage school and church and a wonderful two-storey brick general store.

Founded in 1905 by Charles Maclure to house workers at his Clayburn Brick Works, the village has maintained its historic centre: a dozen old homes, a heritage school and church and a wonderful two-storey brick general store. Inside, the renovated building serves two purposes. On the right it houses an old-fashioned candy store and Yorkshire deli (Melton Mowbray pies, shortbread, cheeses and treacle puddings); those with a sweet tooth will be in heaven. The other half is an English tearoom with scrumptious sweets; its snow-crab soup and homemade scones are famous (open Tuesday to Saturday; check for holiday closures; 604-858-4020).

CLAYBURN: The Hummingbird Native Art Gallery, located in an old church. Many buildings here were designed by architect Samuel Maclure, whose mansions still grace elegant Vancouver and Victoria neighbourhoods. Courtesy Neil Carson

Ask at the store for a village walking tour guide. Many of the brick buildings were designed by Charles’s brother, architect Samuel Maclure, whose mansions still grace elegant Vancouver and Victoria neighbourhoods. Today in one of the five brick Foreman’s Cottages, Clayburn Comforts sells handmade soaps (in small Clayburn-brick moulds) and lotions. The back garden, with fountain-fed pools and native plants, is well worth a peek. A stroll down Wright Street reveals the old schoolhouse (now a museum), the brick church, the Hummingbird Native Art Gallery and Creekside Cats (a holiday home for pampered cats), though not much remains of the old brickworks, which moved closer to Abbotsford in 1930.

Drive east to the end of the village. Here, Old Clayburn Road leads back to Hwy. 11 and the freeway, while Straiton Road provides a more bucolic route following the Ferny Valley of Clayburn Creek to Sumas Mountain  Road. Turn right here and go south toward the freeway, then east again onto North Parallel Road to No. 3 Road. Then cross the freeway and head for the Yellow Barn for fresh fruits, vegetables, honey and more (604-852-0888). Afterward, stay east on No. 3 Road, keeping an eye open for more fields of daffodils, then turn north onto Boundary Road and cross the Vedder Canal Bridge onto Keith Wilson Road. Two blocks along, on the south end of Sumas Prairie Road, is the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve: 130 hectares of floodplain along the Vedder River that is home to more than 200 nests of the endangered bird as well as painted turtles, eagles and other wildlife. Stop at the interpretive centre for live video activity at some nests (April is peak nesting month) and a trail guide and bird checklist. Open daily, 8 a.m. to dusk; admission by donation (604-823-6603).

From the heronry, drive north on Sumas Prairie Road to Greendale village, detouring west on South Sumas Road to visit Greendale Pottery for stoneware and crystalline porcelain, organic freezer beef and farm eggs (Thursday to Saturday; 604-823-6430). Sumas Prairie Road leads to Yale Road West and Heavenly Days Dairies’ goat cheese (just North of Yale Road at 7350 Barrow Rd.; 604-823-7241) and Anita’s Organic Grain and Flour Mill stone-ground specialty flours (weekdays only; 43615 Yale Road West; 604-823-5543).

Yale Road leads to the Lickman Road entrance to Hwy. 1 for a quick drive (about 20 km) to the Hwy. 9 interchange. Turn north, cross the Fraser River and drive into Agassiz to overnight. Good sleeps: Blackberry Lane B&B – friendly, luxurious, in a country setting with huge breakfasts and homemade pies and cookies for sale (5877 Limbert Road; 604-796-9875). Good eats: Just 10 km away in Harrison Hot Springs, at the Old Settler Pub (604-796-9722) and Crazy Fish Bistro (604-796-2280).

Leg Two: Agassiz to Vancouver via Hope (approx. 180 km

FRASER VALLEY Minter Gardens, the Fraser Valley’s counterpart to Vancouver Island’s Butchart Gardens.Courtesy Minter Gardens

After breakfast, return to Hwy. 9 and head back across the Fraser toward the freeway. At the roundabout, turn right (west) onto Yale Road East, then onto Bunker Road for a morning at Minter Gardens, the Fraser Valley’s  counterpart to the Island’s Butchart Gardens. Founded by Brian and Faye Minter in 1980, these 12 gardens are a mass of spring blooms, including daffodils and 100,000-plus tulips, and from April on are a rainbow of floral designs laced with walking paths, streams and waterfalls. Allow an hour or so to stroll around and poke through the plant and gift shop. There are two eateries: the Garden Café and the Trillium Restaurant.

After coffee and treats, return to Agassiz to follow Pioneer Way to Ashton Road, which leads to Limbert Road, heading past the pioneer graveyard to Limbert Mountain Farm. This picturesque retreat has everything:  gardens to tour, herbs and other plants for sale and homemade goodies such as herb-infused chocolate, teas and gourmet pestos. The teahouse (open weekends) serves imaginative fresh lunches (nettle frittata, green-potato soup) and cooking classes are given throughout the spring and summer (604-796-2619).

Continue west along Limbert Road to Cameron Road, then north across Hwy. 7 to McCallum Road for handmade artisan cheeses at the Farm House (604-796-8741). Next, turn north up Hardy Road onto Golf Road to the Back Porch and its many delights: 25 varieties of garlic, farmyard pets, an antiques and collectables barn,  Lynda Vaun Scobie’s pottery studio/showroom and  organic coffee roasted in a 1919 flame roaster.  (Wednesday to Sunday; 604-796-9871).

Head back to Agassiz on Hwy. 9 (about six kilometres) and drive through town to McDonald Road; follow it across the bypass toward the Fraser. In the market for fresh sweet peppers? Turn up Johnson Road to Cheam View Greenhouses’ farm stand. Another farm-gate operation is north on Tranmer Road (No. 1694): a cooler with fresh tulips for sale. The house behind is home base for Tulips of the Valley (604-796-3496). Its 16-hectare holding north on Seabird Island is a multicoloured carpet of blooms toward the end of April, when the Tulips of the Valley Festival is held (phone for exact dates). To reach the festival fields, drive north a short distance on Hwy. 7, turn left onto Seabird Island Road, then right on Chowat Road. Fresh-cut tulips and dahlia tubers are available onsite; tulip bulbs can be ordered for fall planting. Don’t miss: During the festival, Limbert Mountain Farm’s daily “Tulip Teas,” 2 to 4 p.m.

To complete the tour, drive east on Hwy. 7 for about 20 km to Hope, for a walk around the historic little town: don’t miss the old church and the two-dozen impressive chainsaw carvings, most of them around Memorial Park. If there’s time, drive out to Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park (five kilometres) for a stroll through the famous Quintette Tunnels on this stretch of the historic Kettle Valley Railway route. The park is usually open by April 1 (Hope Visitor Centre, 604-466- 8325). From Hope via the freeway, Vancouver is less than two hours away.

Booked solid every weekend through spring? Plan an upper-Fraser Valley jaunt around July’s Brunch on the Farm, August’s slow-food Circle Farm Tour or celeb Chef Diaz’s cooking lessons – and discover the local cheesemaker supplying the White House. 

See also: Fraser Valley Weekender

Tags: Anita's Organic Grain & Flour Mill, B.C. Roadtrips, Blackberry Lane B&B, Clayburn, Clayburn's Hummingbird Native Art Gallery, Fraser Valley Daffodil Festival, Fraser Valley Roadtrip, Fraser Valley's Brunch on the Farm, Fraser Valley's Tulips of the Valley Festival, Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, Greendale Potter, Limbert Mountain Farm, Minter Gardens, Old Settler Pub