The Traboulay PoCo Trail: A Complete Guide to Port Coquitlam’s 25 km Loop

Why this trail is worth your weekend

Plenty of cities have a riverside path. Very few have one that goes all the way around the city. The Traboulay PoCo Trail does exactly that: you can leave from almost any Port Coquitlam neighbourhood, follow the water in one direction, and end up back where you started without retracing a step.

It also changes character every few kilometres. The north side is open dike with farmland on one side, the Pitt River on the other and the Golden Ears filling the skyline. The south side runs past working river industry and the cable-stayed Pitt River Bridge. The west side drops into the marshes of ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park, then turns into a shaded, paved river path through downtown. That variety is why people come back to it for years, one section at a time.

The loop, leg by leg

The City’s trail guide splits the loop into ten legs between well-known landmarks. The diagram below spaces them by distance so you can see at a glance where the long stretches are. Times assume an easy walking pace of 4.5 km/h and a relaxed cycling pace of 15 km/h, without stops.

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The best entrance points (and where to park)

You can join the trail from dozens of street ends and footbridges. These are the starts I’d point a first-timer to, depending on what they want to see.

1. Hyde Creek Recreation Centre — best all-round start

1379 Laurier Avenue. The recreation centre has its own parking and sits right on the trail, which is why the PoCo Trail Relay starts and finishes here. From the building you can head north and east toward DeBoville Slough and the Pitt River, or south along Hyde Creek and the Coquitlam River. In October and November, walk a few minutes along the creek to the Hyde Creek Education Centre & Hatchery (3636 Coast Meridian Road) to look for spawning salmon.

2. Gates Park — best for families and cyclists

2300 Reeve Street. Gates Park has public washrooms, a drinking fountain, a concession, an outdoor gym and a bicycle tire repair station, which makes it the most practical base on the whole loop. Parking is off Reeve Street and Wilson Avenue, and it gets busy when the sports fields are in use. From here the paved downtown river path runs 1.0 km north to Lions Park and 1.5 km south to the Red Bridge.

3. Shaughnessy Street and the PoCo Climb — best for a workout

The City’s PoCo Climb starts on Shaughnessy Street (the City uses 1500 Shaughnessy as the start point) and climbs more than 200 stairs from about 5 m to 75 m above sea level, up to Eastern and Western Drive. The City notes street parking on Shaughnessy Street, Eastern Drive and Western Drive. A flashing-beacon crosswalk links the stairs to ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park, so you can do the stairs, then cool down on the flat marsh trail toward the Red Bridge (4.2 km).

4. Lions Park — best with kids or dogs

Lions Park sits on the Coquitlam River at the north end of the paved downtown stretch, with a playground and a reservable picnic shelter. The off-leash Lions Dog Park (2300 Lougheed Highway) is nearby, so it’s a natural start if your dog needs an off-leash run before or after a leashed walk.

5. DeBoville Slough — best for the views

The City of Coquitlam lists the DeBoville Slough Trail at 4100 Cedar Drive. It’s the gateway to the north dike: wetlands and berry farms on one side, the Pitt River and the Coast Mountains on the other. I couldn’t confirm a public parking lot at this end, so the simplest plan is to park at Hyde Creek Recreation Centre and walk in: it’s 1.8 km.

6. Peace Park and Citadel Landing — best for a quiet riverside stroll

On the South Pitt River side, Peace Park has a reservable picnic shelter, and the Citadel Landing boardwalk looks across the Pitt River to Douglas Island. It’s a good choice if you live in Citadel or Mary Hill and want a paved, flat out-and-back.

Section by section: what you’ll see

The City describes the loop as five sections. Here’s what each one is like on the ground.

DeBoville Slough and the North Pitt River

This is the postcard part of the trail. The unpaved dike runs along DeBoville Slough and then the Pitt River, with wetland habitat, farmland and wide views of the Golden Ears. On the water you’ll see boats and log booms. The City’s guide lists belted kingfishers, ospreys, green herons, bald eagles and the occasional greater sandhill crane here. There’s almost no shade, so bring a hat in summer and expect wind in winter.

Best for: sunset walks, photography, birding. Surface: unpaved, firm in dry weather and puddly after rain.

The South Pitt River

Heading south, the trail is paved and runs past the CPR freight and repair yard, other river industry and the cable-stayed Pitt River Bridge on Lougheed Highway. When the new bridge opened in 2009, the trail got pedestrian and cycling lanes on, beside and under it, and the City finished the loop in 2010. Further south, Peace Park and the Citadel Landing boardwalk look out to Douglas Island. The City’s guide lists bald eagles and cormorants along this stretch.

Best for: easy paved riding, bridge and river views. Surface: paved.

ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park (formerly Colony Farm)

The trail crosses the historic Colony Farm lands, now ƛ̓éxətəm (tla-hut-um) Regional Park: a floodplain of marsh, old fields and forest along the lower Coquitlam River. The City counts more than 150 bird species here, including short-eared owls, great blue herons and northern harriers, plus river otters, beavers and salmon. Red-winged blackbirds call from the marsh every spring.

Best for: birding and quiet, early-morning walks. Surface: unpaved. Heads-up: this low-lying stretch is the first to flood. In December 2025 the City closed sections under the Red Bridge and the Kingsway Avenue bridge, along with part of the Patricia footbridge area, during high water.

Downtown, along the Coquitlam River

Between the Red Bridge, Gates Park and Lions Park, the trail is a paved, tree-lined river path that’s popular with inline skaters, strollers and young kids on bikes. It passes behind residential streets and close to downtown Port Coquitlam, so it’s easy to add a coffee stop. Watch the river in fall for migrating salmon. The City’s heritage panels along this stretch, rewritten with kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation, tell the story of the river.

Best for: strollers, kids’ first bike rides, short loops. Surface: paved.

The Coquitlam River and Hyde Creek

North of Lougheed Highway the trail turns to gravel and gets wilder: side channels, ponds and the Hyde Creek hatchery. The City’s guide lists pileated woodpeckers, cedar waxwings and Steller’s jays, and if you’re lucky, painted turtles near the ponds.

Best for: salmon viewing in fall, shade on hot days. Surface: gravel.

Highlights and viewpoints you shouldn’t miss

• Golden Ears from the North Pitt River dike. The best mountain view on the loop. Go late in the day for the light.
• Log booms and river traffic on the Pitt River. A working river, right beside a quiet dike.
• The Pitt River Bridge. Ride on, beside or under it; the cable-stayed towers make a great photo from the dike.
• Citadel Landing boardwalk. A short, paved boardwalk looking across to Douglas Island.
• ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park marshes. Herons, harriers and owls. Bring binoculars.
• The PoCo Climb stairs. Views over ƛ̓éxətəm from the top, and the closest thing to a hill on the whole trail.
• Hyde Creek salmon. Chum from October to November and coho in November, with lookouts and a footbridge by the hatchery.
• Heritage panels on the Coquitlam River. Short reads about the river’s history, rewritten with kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation.

Five routes I’d suggest

Rules, safety and trail etiquette

• Dogs: on leash and under control, and pick up after them. Off-leash runs are at Lions Dog Park (2300 Lougheed Hwy) and Shaughnessy Dog Park (3345 Shaughnessy St).
• Bikes and skates: control your speed, keep right and use a bell when passing.
• E-bikes: allowed for riders 16 and older wearing a helmet, at a safe speed, yielding to pedestrians (City rules, July 2026). E-scooters aren’t permitted on PoCo pathways, and e-dirt bikes are banned on all trails.
• Horses: share the trail and give them room.
• No motor vehicles or campfires.
• Bears: they follow the salmon in fall. Make noise, keep dogs leashed, and report a bear on City trails to 604-927-5480. For a bear acting aggressively, call the Conservation Officer Service at 1-800-663-9453.
• Emergencies: the City added emergency location markers with ID codes at key entry points in 2022. If you call 911, read out the code on the nearest marker.
• Floods and closures: low sections near the Coquitlam River can close in heavy rain. Check the City’s notices before a winter outing.

Events: the PoCo Trail Relay

The PoCo Run Club’s PoCo Trail Relay runs the whole loop each late summer, starting and finishing at Hyde Creek Recreation Centre. Runners go solo or split it into four legs for teams of two to four. The 2026 edition was on Sunday, September 6 (listed at 25.3 km), and the 2025 race drew about 150 runners. If you want a goal for next year, it’s a friendly way to cover the full trail.

A little history

The trail started as an idea for Canada’s Centennial in 1967. From the early 1970s, volunteers known as the PoCo Trail Blazers began building it piece by piece. Council adopted an upgrade plan in 1997, and in 2001 the City renamed it the Traboulay PoCo Trail after Len Traboulay, Port Coquitlam’s 13th mayor, who served 19 years. The last major links came with the new Pitt River Bridge, and in 2010 the City’s parks manager said the original vision of a full loop was complete “in most senses.”

Living near the trail: which neighbourhoods back onto it

For a lot of buyers, the PoCo Trail is one of the quiet reasons Port Coquitlam ends up on the shortlist. Because it loops the whole city, the question usually isn’t whether you’ll be near it, but which section you’ll be near.

• Downtown Port Coquitlam: condos and townhomes a few blocks from the paved river path, Gates Park and Lions Park.
• Oxford Heights and River Springs: north-side family neighbourhoods close to the gravel Coquitlam River and Hyde Creek sections.
• Citadel Heights and Mary Hill: above the South Pitt River and ƛ̓éxətəm, with the PoCo Climb as your shortcut down to the trail.

My honest advice: walk the stretch closest to a home before you buy. A dike-top view of the Golden Ears and a shady river path feel very different at 7 a.m. in January, and flood-prone low spots matter if you’re planning daily runs or a stroller commute.

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