Surrey Bend Regional Park

Park Sign

Another great park in Surrey, this one is maintained by MetroVanvouver.
We've been here before, in 2014. At that time, the park was very rough, with one very long trail to a swampy area, and pretty much just a Fraser River flood plain. Now the park has established trails, nature playground, interpretive trail signs, and almost 7 km of walking trails, as well as biking trails. There are also outhouses (fairly clean) and picnic areas

Map of Park

There are 3 separate trails: Spirea Loop (1.7 km), Pacific (3 km), and Parsons (3.2 km). We did the Spirea Trail. The trails are flat, wide, and fine gravel, very easy to walk on, and you could use a walker of wheelchair down the middle pretty easily. The surrounding flood plain is wide and clear of tall trees, so you get great views of the marshes, grass, and mountains in the distance. There are sections where the river is visible, and a couple of bridges over waterways that flow in and out of the park. We went in the winter, so there were no ducks or birds, aside from a lone hawk, but in the spring and summer, the trees, marches, and fields will be full of birds, squirrels, and butterflies ... and mosquitoes, I am sure!

Found It!

There are a few geocaches in the park, including a multi-cache (we solved it!).

This is a shared path park, so there might be bikes on the path with you. Dogs are allow ON A LEASH, and please pick up after your mutt 😀

MetroVancouver has a great website for the park, including a video, a photo gallery, some information about the park, and a Trail Guide/Map and Brochure.

Park and Playground

Ka'ena Point, Oahu

I've looked at this park for a while, wanting to try it out one of the times we visit Aulani at Ko'olina. I've read a few warnings about mud puddles, long hot walks, and dangerous cliffs, but still I wanted to try it!

Welk, they weren't kidding about the mud puddles!

Even this guy was concerned! 

This is a 4X4 trail, or walking/biking. 

The park is at the very end of the Farrington Hwy, on the far West point of Oahu. You can. Also access the park from the north side, on a different trail, but since we were at Aulani, it made sense to go west.

The drive is not too long, maybe 30 mins if the traffic is "normal". The highway takes you through beach towns, with the pounding surf on your left, and miles of run down looking houses and businesses across from the beaches. Behind the town's, in the distance, are high mountains eroded by the rains that fall here in winter.

Just before you arrive at the trail head, there is a small lot with rest rooms, decently clean, and usable. Use them; you are in for a long walk!

But you don't have to walk that far. We went for 2 geocaches, and walked about 2 kms all together. That took us to some beautiful vistas of cliffs and pounding surf!

And if you are as lucky as I am, you might catch a glimpse of this multicolored beauty!

Even from the parking lot, the views are great.

Lush mountains and fields, breaking waves, and mud! Who could ask for more!

Jackman Wetlands Park - Aldergrove

Went for a geowalk on New Year's Day at Jackman Wetlands Park in Aldergrove.
The park is at the north west corner of 272nd St and 8th Ave; the entrance to the park is almost directly across from the Aldgrove Transfer Station (dump).

Bates Hotel, during filming (gone now)

The park is also the former film site for Bates Motel, which aired on cable from 2013 to 2017. The hotel and house is no longer there, but you can still see some of the old-looking structures. The structures are also features on the disc golf course, which some visitors have rated as the best in the valley. Not being a player myself, I could not say one way or the other, but I did witness some players slogging through and around mud holes to retreive theie frisbees!

The trails in the park are clean and maintained, very flat and compact. There were a couple of spots that you had to navigate through a puddle caused by minor flooding of ponds, but in general we kept clean and dry. It has been a little bit rainy the last few weeks, but in the summer it could be a lot drier. Also, while there are a lot of trees in the park, they are newer, smaller trees, and there are some spaces with no trees, so it could be warm in the summer.

There are a few geocaches in the park, some premium, some traditional, most pretty easy. There are a lot of people, so beware of muggles!

Dog owners will love the park, but please be mindful of others, and keep your dog on a leash, and clean up after your dog. Stepping in dog poop is gross! Also, they seem to train retreivers at the park, so a certain area might be off-limits, or at least watch for dogs running across the field, and know that there will be the crack gun shots - no one is trying to shoot you, I supposed they are blanks, considereing the populated area.

This is a great place for a walk, you can make it as long or as short as you want.