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Nicholson Road is part of an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring one of the latest, most engaging photos from the project in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the city of Vancouver. |
I think you can all agree with me when I say that one of the best reasons to live in Metro Vancouver is the close proximity to nature. South of the Fraser, this generally means grassy plains and all varieties of forests. But cross the river and you enter into mountain, lake, and epic wilderness territory.
That's where I found myself yesterday, after a journey over the Golden Ears, through Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam, into Port Moody, passing Anmore and Buntzen Lake, to finally arrive in Belcarra, setting up for the afternoon on an outcropping of rock overlooking Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm.
Despite the crowds that came out to enjoy an AwesomeSummerDay (thanks sun!), by walking a minute or two any direction, you find yourself completely surrounded by nature. Sure, the houses across the water in Deep Cove and Dollarton, and the tanker loitering off the refinery near Burnaby Mountain are a constant reminder that you're still on the edge of a major metropolis. But close your eyes, listen to the waves gently crashing against the shore and the infrequent exclamation from a seagull or two, and you could be anywhere.
One of the neat things I learned about Belcarra during my time there, is the amount of care they take in maintaining the ecosystem of the beach and surrounding regional park. The Belcarra Beachkeepers is a volunteer group that uses hands-on activities to educate children (and their parents) about the sensitivity of the local wildlife to ensure it sticks around for many generations to come.
Although the Village of Belcarra was incorporated as recently as 1979, its European roots date back to John Hall purchasing a significant plot of land in 1870, with many generations of Tsleil-Waututh Nation summer settlements prior. This is evident in the large midden located at the edge of the present-day picnic area - Did you assume the grassy clearing was created for picnics in the park? Nope, that's another remnant of the Tsleil-Waututh settlement, which was abandoned in the mid-19th century after a significant smallpox outbreak. Today, the heart of the Tsleil-Waututh community is across the water between Maplewood Flats and Deep Cove, in North Vancouver.
For more information, check out the Village of Belcarra site, or the Belcarra Regional Park page on the Metro Vancouver site (it's got a few neat video clips too). We've also got a few other posts on here! Belcarra (is awesome!).
If you ever need a bit of an escape from the city, I highly recommend taking an afternoon to explore Belcarra. And if you're lucky enough to have access to a boat, it's only about 20mins from Downtown, Vancouver!
More from Nicholson Road can be found HERE.
