Camping in Port Coquitlam
I don't think there is any legitimate campground in Port Coquitlam, since all of Burke Mountain (and Widgeon at its backside) is technically in Coquitlam, and Pitt Lake is also outside of PoCo. But as long as you know that I would never recommend camping in any of the following places (because it's probably illegal), I've provided some ideas below for the desperate, the immobile, and the disenfranchised:
Goose Bar/Goose Island
Just upriver from where the Deboville Slough empties into the Pitt, there is a sandbar in the middle of the river, easily accessible from the west (PoCo) side. I used to camp there as a teenager. We found an animal skull and deified it through ritual. Good teenaged fun. Strange sounds come from the surrounding fields at night. (Goose Bar pictured below.)
Under the Power Lines
This would be a pretty lame place to camp. An access point of note is at Gislason Avenue near Leigh Elementary.
Top of Burke Mtn
I haven't found a spectacular camping spot at the west end of Burke Mountain. The peak with the old burnt down ski lodge is buggy and moist, though the view is gorgeous (I once sat there and watched tiny fireworks light up the Patullo Bridge). It would be nicer to camp up at Munroe or Dennett Lake, though there's no view and the climb is strenuous.
Mirkwood
This is the name given by my mates in highschool, to a place that is probably developed by now (I'm writing this in exile, so I can't check). It was an old orchard at the very top of Oxford, with a very old road leading down into a ravine, where a very old bridge crossed what must be Hyde Creek. I'm pretty sure the land is private. You really shouldn't camp there.
Crystal Falls
This is a pretty little spot with a good water source (contact me if you know anything horrid about the water's quality). Inexplicably, there's a garbage can in this remote spot, but it's often overturned, as if by giant mutant racoons. The place gave me the creeps when I slept there in '96. But it must be visited more, now, so it's probably safer.
Mystical Forest/Coquitlam River Park
If you turn north onto Oxford from Prairie Ave, you'll eventually come to a four-way stop at Lincoln Ave (near my man Tony's place). The forest to your left is officially labelled Coquitlam River Park, but we always called it Mystical Forest. It's a nice place. It has secrets. Funky, steep trails climb to the upper levels, where the bluffs overlook the Coquitlam River Valley. Ugly fences try to prevent hikers from accessing the cliff views. A lot of morning walkers visit this forest, so if you must sleep here, at least find some forgotten nook so you don't upset them.
Sandy Clearing at Dominion Dykes
Drive to the end of Dominion Rd, where it stops at the Pitt River dyke. Walk up to the dyke, and turn ... left? Uh oh. Somebody please refresh me. Either way, if you walk for a couple minutes, there's a nice sandy clearing amidst some deciduons by the river.
>>Back to PoCo Accomodations Page
>>back to PoCo Hikes page