We wanted to continue where we left off yesterday and my toddler was still eager to ride his bike again, so we checked out West Dyke Trail. We parked at Garry Point Park, and headed directly for the trail.
Trail Condition
This is a wide and flat gravel trail from start to finish. If you start from Garry Point Park, it is 5.5 km long until you reach Terra Nova park at the other end. However, you don’t have to go end to end as there are many access points throughout. There are no shade on the dyke, which makes the whole trail very exposed and pretty hot when the sun is out in the summer. We couldn’t finish the whole trail as my toddler became tired biking and had to go home for dinner so we turned back at around the 2.5 K mark (took us about an hour to go this far). The trail is definitely stroller friendly and you can even use an umbrella stroller here.
Despite the humid condition, we do enjoy the view of the Dyke from here. You can see far away mountains, the waters and occasional big boats going by. The trail is also lined by tall greens and some colourful flowers. At the trail head from Garry Point Park, you can also find a big bush of blackberries at this time of year.
Another highlight on this trail are the double-coloured cows grazing at the side at around the 1K to 2K mark. They are from a local cow farm that just happen to be beside the trail. At around 6pm, you can see these cows lining up ready to head back to their shed. Once Billy had to stop as they crossed the dyke back home, an unusual traffic jam.
Crowd volume
The trail is quite wide and there aren’t many people so it’s quite easy to maintain social distancing with others. There is no separate bike lane, so you may have to be careful of the occasional cyclists that share the trail.
Not many people brought their pets here when we went. Pets must be leashed at all times throughout the trail.
Breastfeeding
There are a few benches facing the dyke throughout the trail. It’s comfortable to sit on, but very exposed as there are no trees around.
Other amenities
One nice touch on the way was the installation of water fountain at the Francis Road entrance of the trail. There are also two picnic tables available here.
Washroom
There are no washroom throughout the trail. Closest washroom are at the trail head either at Garry Point Park or Terra Nova Park.
Parking
There is a parking lot in Garry Point Park but it does get busy fairly quickly if you go on a weekend. You can also find street parking and neighbourhood parking if you try accessing the trail through the different access points. If you start from Terra Nova park, there is also a small parking lot there.
7 responses to “West Dyke Trail”
Very nice, makes me want to expose my ultra-pale melanoma prone skin under that glorious UV!!
It’s actually more sun than we’d prefer! We enjoy hiking in more covered trails in forests. But with enough physical sun block we feel like we can take on a little bit of cosmic radiation.
[…] in this park. If you are serious in cycling, you can start from Garry point park and continue along West Dyke trail which spans about 6 km with beautiful water […]
[…] spending 2 hours in the hot afternoon sun on the West Dyke Trail, we decided to explore the other end of the trail just before dusk (much smarter time to explore […]
[…] Dyke trail was flat and surfaced with loose gravel, similar to Richmond’s Dyke Trails. The water level in Coquitlam River was very low, so there wasn’t much of a river view to […]
[…] and a little swampy (as to be expected on a river delta). It’s a bit more covered than the Richmond Dykes, so it may be a good alternative for a stroll for people in the area on a hot sunny day. Limited […]
[…] Trail in Richmond spans from Steveston in the west to Finn Slough in the east, connecting to the West Dyke Trail at Garry Point Park. With North Dyke Trail, these dykes interconnect to form a mostly uninterrupted […]