After John McIver, cleared his land for farming he recruited the help of families from Langley to bring to life his vision of a new district in this very rich, natural region of British Columbia. There were ample maple trees that bordered his property and the story goes that the meeting he organized, around 1874, actually happened under a tree that still stands on the McIver’s old farm property along the Maple Ridge Golf Course today. Parts of Maple Ridge could be described today to resemble Holland with its distinct fields and rolling hillsides as a backdrop. The community is diverse, rich in culture and arts, and of course the great outdoors!
Visitors are sure to find something to do in the outdoors that has a lasting experience such as; camping, nature tours, agri-tours (ask at tourist info center), wineries, sky diving, equestrian events & workshops, and garden tours.
The neighboring community of Pitt Meadows shares the areas Chamber of Commerce, many parks and businesses. Both communities are easily accessed by the TransCanada Highway 1, four US border crossings, the Abbotsford Airport and the Vancouver International Airport, which offer car rental services and bus transportation.
Population: 60,000
Highlights:
Fall & Seasonal Fairs
Indoor Sports Arenas
Theatres
Casino
Boutique shopping
Wetland Reserves
Museums
Country Markets (seasonal)
History:
There are also dense areas of cedar forests that the Katzie and Whonnock aboriginals of the First Nations used to create most of their tools, totems and canoes which gave them access to the surplus of fishing in the area. This land was the stomping grounds of several thousand generations of tribes. Most artifacts that remain are on display at local museums.
Paddle wheelers arrived up the Fraser River with European settlers in the 1800’s around the time the Gold Rush was breaking news in the old world. In the 1950’s, Dutch ingenuity and forethought designed and constructed a thirty mile network of dikes.
Climate:
Summer average 18 degrees Celsius
Winter average 5 degrees Celsius
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