Discover BC’s
Fraser Valley

As I drive east on the Trans-Canada Highway, the Greater Vancouver area gradually recedes into my rear-view mirror. The buildings shrink, and the trees grow. The towns spread out. And if it wasn’t raining, I’d imagine the mountains would start to rise on the horizon.

I just came from an action-packed jaunt along the South of the Fraser Ale Trail and am heading east to Abbotsford and Chilliwack, where my buddy Brandon and I will spend five days drinking our way through the Fraser Valley Ale Trail. Both ale trails sit just across the border from Washington and make it easy to spend time brewery-hopping and seeing the region’s many sites. On this leg of the journey, we’ll hit nearly a dozen brewery and cidery stops, race go-karts, paddle the Chilliwack River’s whitewater rapids, try our hand at golf, and eat plenty of meals whose ingredients were grown in the Fraser Valley’s many farms. Best of all, most stops will be within an hour’s drive of the border.

Before all that, I stop for a pre-lunch walk at Matsqui Trail Regional Park, which sits on the south shore of the Fraser River. Here, a series of mostly flat trails follow a gravel dike that shows off nearby farms, and a riverside path cuts through a dense forest mere steps from the shore. A few interpretive panels just down from the parking lot explain how the Matsqui Dike protects the farmland from high water, and a vertical measuring stick shows the water level of various floods dating back to 1894.

Next up is lunch at Old Yale Brewing in Abbotsford, an outdoorsy space where I meet Brandon to kick off our adventures together. I order a slow-cooked beef dip sandwich and pair it with a few classic brews—including a lager, amber ale, and IPA. Tasting notes are provided with each beer, which makes the experience more accessible and helps me better understand what I’m tasting. Booths are lined by wooden slats and topped with green roofs to mimic a forest’s tree canopy; a faux tree appears to be growing in the middle of the tasting room; outdoorsy gear hangs from the walls; and a patch of turf makes the restaurant feel less like a brewpub than a spacious city park.

After lunch, we unleash our inner 10-year-olds at Castle Fun Park—an indoor-outdoor attraction whose family activities comprise go-karts, video games, mini golf, a laser maze, and bumper cars. Neither one of us has kids, but if we did, they’d love the boisterous atmosphere here. We get into the upbeat spirit of the place, playing a few racing games in the arcade before trying the real thing on the go-kart track outside. I’m 6’4” and am surprised to fit into the go-karts, but we have a blast racing around tight turns and feeling the wind against our faces on the course’s straightaways.

After a few more rounds in the arcade, we stop at our second brewery in Abbotsford: Old Abbey Ales. The brewery was founded in 2013 to showcase Belgian ales but has shifted its focus over the years to spotlight a wide-ranging lineup of creative (mostly one-off) brews. On our visit, Old Abbey’s head brewer Cameron pours a flight and walks us through the brewery’s history. He’s clearly excited by the chance to brew recipes that don’t necessarily conform to a specific style—usually with creative ingredients. I’m eager to try his cranberry sour, coffee IPA, and dark ale brewed with squash; each goes down easy and balances the disparate flavours within each glass.

Afterward, we head a few blocks over to the centrally located Sandman Hotel Abbotsford Airport. We’re lucky enough to stay in a suite with a kitchenette, comfortable beds, and plenty of space to stretch out. We won’t have much time to enjoy the hotel’s amenities, including a well-stocked fitness centre and indoor pool, but appreciate the variety of offerings.

Soon, we’re ready for dinner on the patio at Field House Brewing Co. in East Abbotsford. Before we can order, Casey (Field House’s tasting-room manager) swings by to say “hi” and share a bit about the brewery.

True to its name, Field House has its own farm that produces fresh, seasonal ingredients for house-made beers and pub fare; the brewery is so committed to the cause, Casey jokes that he sometimes has to fight the farmers for employees at the tasting room when certain crops are ready for harvest. That shows up in a food menu that encompasses tacos (including a confit duck taco made with local fowl), wood-fired pizzas, sandwiches, salads, and bowls; I’ve seen most of the dishes at plenty of other brewpubs, but the local herbs, produce, and meats elevate the experience—and lead to fresher, more satisfying dishes. My roasted vegetable tacos go well with a handful of pleasant, easy-drinking brews; I’m especially fond of the citrusy mimosa-inspired sour ale, the tropical IPA, and a hazy IPA crafted with strawberries and tangerines.

Our first day in Abbotsford ends at the cozy Canuck Empire Brewing in Abbotsford’s U-District. Brandon, who’s pouring beer tonight, tells us that the brewery crafts an easy-drinking lineup geared toward visitors who are attending concerts and Abbotsford Canucks hockey games across the street at the Abbotsford Centre. Of the 10 beers on tap, I sample a smooth helles and a slightly bitter pilsner—but am also excited by some of Canuck Empire’s more daring offerings, including a mango habañero pale ale and a wheat ale crafted with chamomile. A dog-friendly patio sits outside, and an upstairs loft looks down on the brewhouse. It’s a quiet Saturday night, but it’s easy to imagine this place packed with happy fans and satisfied craft beer geeks on a chilly November evening.

We’re spending most of our overcast Sunday in the Harrison River Valley—and are starting the day early at Bob’s Breakfast or Burgers. The food truck resides on the corner of a church parking lot in Abbotsford and specializes in—you guessed it—high-quality breakfast sandwiches and burgers. Soon after ordering a bacon-and-egg sandwich, the owner—Bob himself—joins us at our table. He explains that the idea for the truck came to him after realizing how basic (and overpriced) most fast-casual breakfast sandwiches tend to be; Bob figured he could charge a few dollars more while dramatically improving the quality of the sandwich, and the idea for the food truck was born. Since opening, he’s crafted a solid line-up of flavorful sandwiches and filling smash burgers—which I’d love to return and try another time.

We drive northeast to Harrison Hot Springs, where we take a jetboat trip with Harrison Eco Tours. We’re on the Scenic Harrison River Tour, a 90-minute ride up its namesake waterway. After setting out from the southern shore of Harrison Lake, we turn west onto the Harrison River—and take a fascinating trip through thousands of years of history, growth, and change. We pass a rock that’s home to a pictograph and petroglyphs left by the area’s Sts’ailes people, neon green lichen clinging to riverside rocks, an old lumber mill, towering forests of fir and cedar, and more than a few birds—including great blue herons, osprey, and bald eagles. (Our Canadian captain is happy to inform us Americans that Canada is actually home to more bald eagles than the United States.) Eventually, we arrive at the torrid pool where the Harrison and Fraser rivers meet.

Back on dry land, we head west and up the Harrison River, where we’ll have lunch at the River’s Edge Clubhouse Restaurant at Sandpiper Resort. We’re seated at the edge of the greenhouse-like dining space, which is surrounded by glass panes that offer resplendent views of the Douglas fir and cedar trees overhead, as well as the resort’s golf course and Harrison River just outside. The food is just as good as the views; we nosh on chilli-glazed pork dumplings, a gnocchi dish crafted with foraged mushrooms, a fresh turkey club sandwich, and more. It’s satisfying in every way.

We take a break from beer today, and two cideries are on the afternoon’s agenda. The first is Cedar Cider, which resides in a farmhouse just outside Agassiz in the Hazelmere Valley. The co-owner, Gabriel, talks between pours about his farm-forward approach; Cedar’s fruity offerings are crafted with wild yeast and typically go through barrel aging and fermentation—all of which mellows the sweetness and puts each cider’s fruit flavours front and center. We enjoy our flights on the patio, which is in full view of Cedar’s small apple orchard.

Brandon and I have time to kill before our second cidery of the day—which is where we’ll also have dinner—so we check out a few attractions around Harrison Hot Springs.

The first is the Harrison Visitor Centre and Sasquatch Museum, a compact building that pays tribute to its eponymous mythical creature. As a Pacific Northwest native, I’ve grown up with tales of Sasquatch—and am beyond thrilled to peruse the compact exhibits. We see a map with Sasquatch sightings in the Harrison area, read stories about the Sts’ailes people and their relationship with Sasquatch, see how First Nations tribes have engaged more broadly with the skittish cryptid, and view a few artifacts—including a few footprint casts allegedly taken from where Sasquatch once visited.

After departing the museum, we stretch our legs on the nearby Spirit Trail. The flat, 1-kilometre path passes through a lush forest; it stands out, not just for the quiet nature of the trail, but because numerous clay masks—all designed by local artist Ernie Eaves—have been placed on dozens of tree trunks (typically above eye level) along the way. We have fun pointing out various masks that look like people, mythical creatures, and even animals.

By now, we’re ready for a little more cider—and dinner—so we check out the day’s last excursion: Homestead Cider. We park at the end of a rural road, walk past a home, and end up out at the foot of a sprawling lawn—where we’re greeted by what feels like the world’s most fun backyard gathering. 

In a sense, it is the world’s most fun backyard gathering: Homestead’s taproom resides in a converted shed, and the home we walked past belongs to owner Brett Carlson. He meets us inside to chat about how Homestead got started and what he hopes to accomplish with the cidery today. Carlson explains that Homestead grows a few apples on-site and sources its hops from an Abbotsford farm, as well as fruits from the Fraser Valley. The taproom, open April through October, usually has a half-dozen fruity selections on tap.

Brandon and I settle into a picnic table on the lawn; behind a musician strumming his guitar are rolling hillsides, an open meadow, and verdant forests. Eventually, we pair our pours with fish tacos from the Crazy Gringo food truck, which is parked on-site. When the musician unplugs and the taproom closes, we return home for the night with plenty to rave about on the drive.

We ease into Monday at the 50s-inspired Ann Marie’s Cafe—complete with black-and-white checkerboard floors, red vinyl booths, and vintage advertisements covering the walls. Ann Marie’s specializes in bowls, sandwiches, eggs Benedict, omelettes, and other classic breakfast dishes—many of which come with the restaurant’s specialty pan-fried potatoes.

We start driving east to Chilliwack, where we’ll spend the rest of our trip, after a short walk in Mill Lake Park. Once in Chilliwack, our first experience is at Field House Brewing CHWK. The brewery’s second outpost opened in 2020 at the edge of District 1881 and pours a few ales and lagers unavailable at its East Abbotsford location. I opt for a mix of Field House standards (such as the Modelo-inspired Dunkel-style lager) and a few Chilliwack exclusives (including a lite pineapple guava lager)—all of which pair well with the brewpub’s pesto chicken sandwich. In addition to the friendly pub space, where we can see Field House’s brewing system, the pub offers a patio that’s packed on this sunny afternoon and a few free-to-play arcade games in the corner.

After lunch, we survey the surrounding District 1881 neighbourhood. The reinvigorated district is home to sidewalk cafés, shops and boutiques, townhomes, and other businesses in historic buildings—and is best explored via the alleys and walkways that make District 1881 a pedestrian’s paradise. We’re struck by the many murals covering walls in the area—paying tribute to local First Nations history, local wildlife, and other topics—and want to know more about what we’re seeing.

We don’t have to wait long. A few minutes later, we meet Michael Berger, owner of Chilliwack Tours, for a walking tour of the neighbourhood’s colourful murals. Over the next hour, Berger discusses Chilliwack’s fascinating history, dives into how the city grew into a haven for public art—with more than 65 murals throughout town—and talks up the just-completed Chilliwack Mural Festival (which we missed by a few days). Along the way, he speaks thoughtfully and passionately about some of the 17 or so murals dotting District 1881; we learn about how artists are chosen, how some of the paintings came together, and what they’re meant to represent. It’s hard not to be moved by Berger’s passion and enthusiasm for the vibrant displays.

Brandon and I talk about a few of our favourite murals on our short walk to the Coast Chilliwack Hotel by APA—home for the next few nights. Adorable origami birds have been placed atop our comfortable beds, the room looks out over a pond and mountains to the south, and Brandon wastes little time contemplating a soak in the hotel’s hot tub.

The only other stop today is dinner and beer at Farmhouse Brewing Co., which is located in the Greendale neighbourhood of Chilliwack. The hops for Farmhouse’s beers come from an on-site hop farm, the blueberry lavender radler incorporates seasonal ingredients, and cheese for the brewpub’s wood-fired pizzas are sourced from a cheesemaker just two blocks away. In every sense of the word, we’re enjoying a taste of the Fraser Valley with every sip and bite tonight. 

Soon after sunset, we pay our tab and drive back to the hotel. Tomorrow is a big day, and we’ll need all the rest we can get.

Today is, by far, the most packed day of our itinerary—which is why Brandon and I are awake by 7 a.m.

It all begins at Cookies Grill, a welcoming café that dishes scratch-made recipes with fresh ingredients. The restaurant specializes in sweeter dishes, like cinnamon bun pancakes and a French toast dish stuffed with vanilla cream cheese, but I opt for something that’s, in theory, a little lighter: a “breakfast club” sandwich that delivers the best of the morning (ham, bacon, eggs, and cheese) inside a triple-decker sandwich that I can hardly finish. I have fun trying, though, and am thoroughly satisfied when we depart for the day’s first activity.

From Cookies, we go to Cultus Lake Golf Club—which sits near the shore of its namesake reservoir just outside Chilliwack.

Brandon and I are given our own private lounge bay on the Toptracer Range to swing a few balls. Soon after arriving in the lounge—walled off from other groups on the driving range, heated for year-round use, and outfitted with a comfortable couch—an employee shows off the innovative Toptracer technology.

In so many words, Toptracer begins with a computer and monitor just behind the tee box; there, cameras and sensors “trace” our shots—and use the data collected from each swing to display how we would have done away from the range and in a variety of scenarios. In one instance, the video board shows how our real-world shots on the driving range would have looked on famous courses around the world (such as Pebble Beach).

But what blows Brandon and me away is Toptracer’s built-in Angry Birds feature, which puts us right in the middle of the classic mobile game. When I hook a shot to the right, the bird launched on the screen behind me curves away from the gaggle of green pigs—mirroring the direction of my errant swing; when I hit a solid shot down the middle of the range, I bring down all the cackling pigs and am awarded three stars for my efforts.

We have so much fun that when it’s time to move onto the day’s next adventure, we wish we would have checked out the Lower Mainland’s only putting course (surrounded by a forest of Douglas fir and western red cedar just a few steps away), the course’s on-site bistro (which dishes up up-scale pub fare), and the club’s 18-hole golf course. 

Next up is lunch at Old Yale Brewing’s Chilliwack location—one of two Old Yale establishments in British Columbia. The brewery’s camp-inspired food menu, which includes creative burgers, bowls, and sandwiches, is served out of an on-site Airstream trailer. Still full from breakfast, I opt for a refreshing salad along with a flight of house-made beers; the selections run the gamut—from a lite lager and a slightly sweet blonde ale to a tropical mango wheat ale—but they all pair perfectly with Old Yale’s outdoorsy patio vibes.

From lunch, we follow the Chilliwack River east of town to our next stop: Chilliwack River Rafting. The outfitter gives us all wetsuits and helmets, loads us onto a bus, and takes us to the put-in point on the namesake waterway—where we’re given a safety talk and divided into the groups we’ll be paddling with.

After just a few minutes on the water, we come to Squeal Rapid—our first series of rapids and, at Class III, among the largest we’ll experience all afternoon. Over the next few hours, we glide over rocks shaped by time and glacial runoff, take a few seconds to admire Mount Slesse over our shoulders, get out of the water for a quick hike to Butterfly Falls, and bask in the turquoise glow of Allison Pool.

After getting back to dry land and changing into clothes that don’t reek of river water, Brandon and I cheers to the day’s adventure over beers at Sidekick Brewing on the banks of the Chilliwack River—just downstream from where we were an hour ago.

I can imagine no more perfect backdrop for a handful of inspired beers and a perfectly cooked Detroit pizza. Narrowing down my beer flight proves daunting, but I eventually decide on a refreshing raspberry hibiscus ale, an easy-drinking table beer brewed with spruce tips and black currant tea, a hazy IPA that bursts with bright flavours of citrus and pineapple, and a Berliner-style sour adorned with lavender syrup—true to how the style is served in Berlin. 

Our last stop tonight is Axe House Chilliwack, where a friendly employee named Alex walks us through safety tips and shows us how to throw axes, a metal knife, and a small tomahawk toward the wooden boards before us.

Brandon and I have both thrown axes before, and figure we know what to expect—so we are surprised when Alex turns on a video screen that projects different games onto the blank wooden canvas. She walks us through the various games, which include Tic-tac-toe, target practice, and even one option where we can “hunt” digital ducks on the wall—and earn points for hitting them. Alex says it’s the only system of its kind in British Columbia, and the whole axe-throwing experience feels brand new. We’re both excited to come back—not only to improve our axe-throwing skills but to spend time with the foosball tables, arcade games, and table tennis that round out the Axe House’s offerings.

We leave behind the cornfields of Chilliwack for a different kind of natural beauty at Hope, which sits at the doorstep to the Cascade Range and is an idyllic base camp for exploring the surrounding mountains. We stop in to Hope Mountain Cafe, where I order a breakfast sandwich alongside the house specialty—a “croffle”, which is a waffle made of flaky croissant dough. Jennifer, the cafe’s owner, stops by to greet us and share a pair of creative coffee drinks to enjoy while we wait. A few minutes later, our meal arrives—and I devour nearly every bite of the spread. The croffle, in particular, perfectly blends the savouriness of a croissant with the sweetness of the chocolate sauce that’s been drizzled on top.

Fully caffeinated, we head north—into the Fraser Canyon and to the Hell’s Gate Airtram. The tram crosses the Fraser Canyon over its namesake river as the waterway rages through a narrow channel below. After descending, we poke around the on-site village, which hosts an exhibit that covers the cultural history of Hell’s Gate, a well-stocked gift shop, a few viewpoints, and a suspension bridge that crosses the Fraser River. It’s here that we see salmon fighting the current to swim upstream in the roiling waters below.

We take the tram back up to the parking area and retrace our steps to Hope, where we admire the community’s biggest claims to fame: Several scenes from the 1982 film “Rambo: First Blood” were shot around Hope, and world-class chainsaw carvers arrive in town every year for the annual Hope World Class Chainsaw Carving Event. More than 80 such carvings dot the downtown core, so Brandon and I view some of the works—one of which portrays a machine gun-wielding Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo. We missed the carving event by a few days, but are nevertheless impressed by the handiwork that goes into crafting these detailed pieces of art. 

After a walk downtown, we visit Mountainview Brewing, where we’re given a tour by Head Brewer Sho Ogawa. During the tour, Ogawa explains that he specializes in “simple, classic styles” that are usually made with hops grown near Pemberton and in the Fraser Valley. That said, he’s most proud of the spruce tip gose currently on tap in the tasting room next door.. To bring the beer to life, everyone on the Mountainview team joined a spruce tip-picking party at a local nursery; the resulting beer took home a gold medal at the 2025 Canadian Brewing Awards.

After the tour, we settle in with flights, and I nosh on a beef dip sandwich—the brisket for which is slow-roasted overnight. A few highlights include an imperial wheat ale crafted with blood oranges (its moniker—”First Blood Orange”—pays tribute to “Rambo”), a margarita-inspired lime sour, and the citrus-tinged gose. After working our way through the tap list, Brandon and I see why the beer won a gold medal.

We follow lunch with a visit to Coquihalla Canyon Park just outside of town. The park sits on the north shore of the Coquihalla River and is most closely associated with the Othello Tunnels: a handful of passageways, carved into the granite hillsides, originally built to facilitate train travel between the Kootenays and the Pacific Ocean. The railway stopped running long ago and was replaced by a flat, 3.5-kilometre path that passes through what are known today as the Othello Tunnels.

We walk through each of the three accessible tunnels, bask in the greenery, and crane our necks toward the top of the canyon. The unusual mix of sun-kissed skies and total darkness captivates both of us, and we’re glad to be here. If you’d like to see for yourself, note that the tunnels are closed between November and March—and that you should always bring at least two sources of light to navigate.

We worked up an appetite at the Othello Tunnels, so it’s a good thing our next—and final—visit today is dinner at the newly opened Nomad So.Cial Eatery in Hope. The restaurant opened just about two months ago, but has already made a name for itself serving what it calls “Rocky Mountain food.” Co-owner Sandra Dowsett stops by and explains the concept behind Rocky Mountain fare—which combines the down-home nature of simple backcountry cooking, the ingredients that grow in the surrounding mountains and valleys, and health-minded choices to make each dish feel as fresh as possible.

We each choose a dish that reflects the innovation at the heart of the restaurant’s menu. Brandon orders a hand-carved steelhead “pastrami” sandwich, while I opt for a crunchy chicken sandwich that’s topped with (among other ingredients) mustard slaw and honey chilli. We couldn’t be happier with our final dinner of the trip, and we spend most of our drive to Chilliwack reminiscing about all the fun we had today.

I have a long drive ahead of me, so Brandon and I check out of the hotel and walk to the final stop on our itinerary: a filling breakfast at Uptown Grill, which specializes in down-home dishes with fresh ingredients. The eatery resides at the edge of District 1881 and in the heart of downtown Chilliwack; it’s an easy walk from the hotel and is nearly full when we arrive at about 8:30 a.m.

We’re seated right away, and I peruse the menu. I’m tempted by Uptown Grill’s signature pancakes, topped with fresh fruit and served with a rich caramel syrup, but decide on a Denver omelette with a side of the eatery’s crispy potatoes.

While waiting for our food to arrive, Brandon and I try to make sense of all we’ve seen and done since Saturday. What started with craft beers and go-karts in Abbotsford ended with whitewater rafting, an aerial tram ride, and this hearty dish in Chilliwack. Only 34 kilometres separate Abbotsford from Chilliwack—and it’s only another 53 kilometres to Hope—but each home base has felt like an entirely different world from the others. Abbotsford and the Harrison Valley brought outdoor adventure to our doorstep, Chilliwack blossomed with colourful public art and fresh flavours, and Hope gave us a glimpse of British Columbia’s mountainous wonders.

It was an awe-inspiring introduction to the province, one that has us both contemplating return trips. Brandon, who lives in Bellingham, is already texting his family about crossing the border for patio hangs, outdoor adventures, and seasonal dishes sooner than later. 

Our food arrives, and there’s only one thing left to do on this memorable trip. We dig in.