Fraser Valley and the Cascades
Working out where to go? Browse the trip reports by objective for this area, and check the forecast before you commit.
Day-trip range from Vancouver rather than from Calgary, and the wettest of the regions here. Most campgrounds book through BC Parks.
Campgrounds — BC Parks
- Cultus Lake — large and busy, west of Chilliwack
- Skagit Valley — up the Silver–Skagit road from Hope, and the quiet way into this corner
- E.C. Manning — Lightning Lake and the smaller sites, on Highway 3
- Golden Ears — Alouette Lake, north of Maple Ridge
- Sasquatch — Harrison Lake, north-east of Chilliwack
Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park, the base for the Cheam Range and the Chilliwack valley peaks, also has a campground; BC Parks does not currently publish a stable page for it, so check camping.bcparks.ca directly.
Hostels and huts — none. Neither Hostelling International nor the Alpine Club of Canada has a property in the valley; the nearest are in Sea to Sky and the Coast Mountains.
Recreation sites
The Chilliwack River valley is lined with them, which makes this the easiest region in BC to camp at the foot of what you are climbing — the road to Chilliwack Lake is also the road to Cheam, Slesse and the Border Peaks. First come, first served, cash only. See how it works for the rules.
- Tamihi Creek — the big one, 116 sites in three parts (East, West, and a day-use staging area where overnight camping is not allowed), $17, two-wheel-drive accessible, on the Trans Canada Trail.
- Thurston Meadows — 76 sites in an open meadow straight off the Chilliwack Lake Road, $17, the RV-friendly one.
- Riverside — fifteen sites on a tributary, $17, and the listing's own words are "popular with hikers". Gates lock at 11 pm.
- Allison Pool — seven sites, $17, gravel access and not for large RVs.
- Bear Creek, Cascade Peninsula and Cogburn Beach — free sites on Harrison Lake, 25 to 40 sites each, further from the hiking.
- Sloquet Hot Springs — twenty sites up the In-SHUCK-ch road, subject to the same wildfire advisories as the Lillooet Lake sites.
Reservations for the Chilliwack valley fee sites go through the operator at campchilliwackvalley.ca, not through the province.