As soon as the border with Canada re-opened, I returned to my favorite pre-pandemic parks within a few miles of the Lynden and Blaine border crossings.
For years I drove along the lengthy 16th Avenue — also known as the historic North Bluff Road — to and from appointments, passing equestrian estates and several parks. I finally got curious and decided to explore. Since then, I’ve enjoyed taking a number of friends who also appreciate these places. Many people first think of the incredibly colorful Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, but several other lovely parks and gardens are mere minutes from the border, more easy accessible — and affordable.
Parks and gardens close to the border
The five-acre Glades Woodland Park is in South Surrey at 457-172 Street, offers more than 3,500 mature rhododendrons and azaleas that are especially colorful in the late spring and has a large annual Mother’s Day celebration. Eventually the park will expand to 15 acres and is backed by a golf course adjacent to the Peace Arch crossing.
In 1956, Lydia and Murray Stephen purchased a five-acre parcel of land riddled with blackberries, alder trees, and stumps; remnants from turn-of-the-century land clearings. Murray’s dream was to recreate the beautiful rhododendron gardens remembered from his youth in Scotland. They renovated the land, planting rhododendrons, azaleas, exotic trees, and shrubs.
After Murray passed away in 1970, the garden fell into a state of decline until Jim and Elfriede DeWolf purchased the garden in 1994 and began their restoration. The garden saw another stage of transformations in 2002, when the DeWolf family gifted the Glades to the City of Surrey. In 2018, I met Jim DeWolf during an open house day; he was still living on the property and loved to tell stories. Recently I stopped for an hour for the brilliant blooms in May after scheduling online for a specific time and paying a nominal fee.
Darts Hill Garden Park, at the corner of 16th Avenue and 168th Street, is a feature garden in South Surrey that includes many species of plants from all over the world. Just minutes from the Glades and the city of White Rock, if offers free parking and restrooms and is operated with volunteers and a suggested donation of $5 Canadian.
It’s especially lovely to see in May and June, and in the fall, as well. It’s open on a limited basis to the public with signs on the fence facing 16th Avenue and more information available online. Francisca and Edwin Darts gardened here on weekends, initially traveling from their home in Vancouver — to a site without water or electricity. They developed an orchard, water features, pathways around rhododendrons, and woodland plants. The couple gifted the garden to the residents of Surrey in 1994. Per the city, they wanted to ensure everyone could enjoy their garden and learn more about plants in Surrey.
The park includes an additional 15 acres purchased by the city for a total of 22.5 acres. Volunteers warmly greet visitors to what was originally a weekend place for the Darts. Eventually the city has grown up and around the property with so many housing units not far away. I found it almost by accident — a pleasant one, at that. Volunteers now have a coffee table book of the history for purchase at the entrance.
Redwood Park, found at 17900-20 Avenue in Surrey, is up the hill from Darts Hill and is a surprise in many ways. At the top of the hill (straight up from the Pacific Highway border crossing), turn by a fire station at the light onto 20th Avenue and look to the right for the entrance to the park, after driving several blocks.
The park is free to visit, has a wheelchair accessible playground, restrooms, rustic picnic shelters, mature grove of Sierra Redwoods and 32 other species of trees, and a most unique feature not seen in many parks: a fairy forest. While no real fairies reside there, school children have brought brightly painted bird houses and other small wooden and metal structures into the central part of the park. While not necessarily authorized by the park system, it is much loved. One concession is park personnel putting up signs for the children not to hammer into the living trees, so they hang their fairy structures on stumps, limbs, and set them along the ground in formations.
How did Redwood Park begin? Peter and David Brown, twin brothers who both were deaf, were gifted the land in 1893 at age 21 from their postmaster father David Brown, Sr. (who later became a provincial Justice of the Peace). The 80 acres was freshly logged and ready to farm. Instead, the two young men, having had a fruit orchard that died in 1955 during storms, rebuilt the forest with trees from around the world. They lived in a treehouse until their deaths in 1949 and 1958. Their house is long gone but a replica remains. The setting is also used in the making of television shows produced in metro Vancouver. My children friends loved running along the trail and looking for easy-to-see signs on the trees not only identifying the type of tree but also the use.
Beautiful parks just a bit further away
Three other parks well worth a visit are within several miles of the U.S.-Canada border crossing at Blaine. For those interested in traveling further, Campbell Valley Regional Park is 12 minutes away to the east and contains miles of hiking trails, a one-room school house, equestrian center and riding area, and various wooded spaces.
The scenic city of White Rock is mere minutes away to the west and offers numerous dining locations and a lengthy pier to enjoy.
The City of Vancouver is 24 miles to the north and opens up many more opportunities for exploration of gardens and parks.
Featured photo of Glades Woodland Park by Elisa A. Claassen
