I had a few hours of downtime between my on campus classes and was all caught up on my homework (for once), so I opened Google Maps and looked for a trail close by!
To my surprise, I discovered one right behind my college campus!
Hoy Creek Linear Park is a network of trails that connects you to various residential areas of Coquitlam!
I was very confused when the first trail I tried took me to a dead end residential road! So I turned around and walked the other way instead, wanting to stay in the forested area.
There are multiple ways to go and if I had more time I would have tried to explore all of them!
I could not find much information online about this park at the time, but further research afterwards turned up some interesting info! See links below to read more about it.
Hoy Creek Fishery is also found within this park! The Hoy-Scott Creek Watershed Society, in partnership with the City of Coquitlam, and with assistance from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, manage the Hoy Creek Fish hatchery.
Young salmon fry are raised from the egg and smolt stages and then released each spring to begin their journey to the Pacific Ocean. After a few years, the mature salmon return to spawn. Their release and return are celebrated at the Salmon Leave Home and Salmon Come Home events.
I sent a few photos to my friend who works for Fisheries and she knew exactly where I was!
I was surprised by this little guy just sitting in the creek, not caring as people walked by. I stopped and watched him for awhile, before continuing on.
To read more about this trail and other ones in Coquitlam, Learn more Here.
This was a short but sweet adventure, squeezed between my college classes, but it was so worth it! I was a little worried I wouldn’t get back to campus on time for my next class, but I made it.
It just goes to show that it pays to explore, even in the middle of a big city, because you never know what you will find!
As always, thank you for reading and keep adventuring!