Cranberry Trail

It’s Cranberry Harvest Time and many Let’s Go Biking routes lead to some of the Best Cranberry fields in the World.

Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge are great places to watch the cranberry harvest in mid to late October. There are many cranberry bogs to see and the harvest rotates from one field to the other. You’ll see cranberry fields, brilliant blueberry bushes, pumpkin patches, three rivers, and an airport. Take the short route along the Alouette River dykes or ride the whole circle (red line).

** This year visit The Bog Riverside Cranberry Farm on the Glen Valley. During the harvest this industrious farming family welcomes visitors. There are interactive displays on the self-guided walk with lots of information about cranberry farming. And the most exciting thing is their ‘plunge pool’ where you can get right into the field and experience the cranberry harvest! It’s totally amazing and I highly recommend it. For information and tickets, visit their website at https://www.riversidecranberries.ca

For those wanting to expand the ride, the Glen Valley

Do you know cranberries are native to BC and were used by the First Nations as food, dye and medicine. They were traded to the Hudson’s Bay Company for goods and at one point during the Gold Rush were worth more than gold. According to the BC Cranberry Growers, “eighty growers located in the fertile lower Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island, produce in excess of 750,000 barrels (1 barrel = 100 lbs) of cranberries annually, 12% of the cranberry production in North America. Cranberries are mostly exported to make sweet dried cranberries, frozen berries and cranberry juice.

Here’s the full red circle route and orange shortcut on the dyke trail:

How to use tracks in Google Maps:

1. Click on the top right icon, choose Share, copy the map link and email the link to yourself

2. On your phone, open your Google Maps App and sign in

3. Open your email and click on the link in the email

4. Map should open and is now saved in GoogleMaps, you will be able to see where you are on the routes!

Here’s a link to Ride With GPS. I’m testing this technology, feedback appreciated.

The beater pulls the cranberries off the vines. Each berry has four air pockets, which makes it naturally buoyant. Once the field is completely beaten, the water is raised to two to three feet then the berries are herded towards the sorting machine.

For great eats in the area, stop by the Ranch Grill & Pub at the Maple Ridge Equestrian Centre or Humble Roots Cafe on 224th at 132nd in Maple Ridge (see the Google Map!)

For the family, cranberries and pumpkins Go Together: Visit the Laity Pumpkin Patch – now with two locations

For a shorter route with the kiddies, ride past two cranberry bogs on the Pitt River Greenway and watch small planes come and go at Pitt Meadows Airport!