Celebrate the spectacle of autumn on The Fall Colours Tour in Southern British Columbia
Celebrate the spectacle of autumn on The Fall Colours Tour. It provides the perfect setting to explore the best that Southern British Columbia has to offer. Picture the brilliant autumn leaves, surrounded by lush, rolling fields rich with agricultural bounty. The shimmer of the Okanagan Lake welcomes you along with the white-capped waves of the Pacific Ocean. The Fall Colours Tour offers the ideal opportunity to enjoy the crispness of autumn, while experiencing a wide range of activities that complete an unforgettable holiday.Beginning in the urban center of Vancouver, you will venture out to Mighty Fraser Country, where autumn is evident in the ripe crops and golden hues. Explore corn mazes and pumpkin farms before heading towards the heartlands of British Columbia. The Okanagan valley welcomes you with thriving vineyards and no shortness of autumn glory. Continue on into the Nicola Valley, where the rich shades of yellow and orange stretch over the tranquil expanse of the valley.
Heading into the Pemberton Valley, the brilliant shades of gold, mixed with the pristine streams and glacier fed lakes offer the perfect setting for the village of Pemberton. In addition to the majestic splendor of the autumn views, this tour incorporates a wealth of activities and attractions that are unique for fall. The Fall Colours Tour opens the doors for you to experience autumn at its finest, in spectacular Southern British Columbia.
Catch the “Autumn Bloom” at Manning ParkManning Provincial Park offers visitors easy access by car to high mountain meadows, rich in beautiful plants and animals. But if you happen to miss the “Peak Bloom” of wildflowers in mid-July, don’t despair – some of the most stunning plant and animal displays come in the fall!By late August, a new wave of colour is on the way. Patches of crimson, yellow, and orange take over the meadows in August and September, as plants loose their familiar green colour, revealing brighter pigments inside their leaves.But the most spectacular display of fall colour comes in early October.
That’s when a unique tree – the Alpine Larch – turns from green to brilliant yellow-orange. The Alpine Larch has cones like an evergreen but its needles turn gold and drop every fall. This deciduous habit enables Larches to grow tall at 2,000 metres above sea level, where harsh winters prune evergreens into stunted shrubs. The Larches that grow on Mt. Frosty in Manning Park are truly ancient – core samples show that many of these trees are approaching 2,000 years of age!Fall is also a great time to view wildlife – particularly birds of prey. Magnificent birds such as Golden Eagles, Harriers, and several Hawk species use mountain meadows as north-south migration routes. It’s just another reason to get up and see the mountains one last time before the snow flies! www.manningparkresort.comGardens GaloreWith its mild, year-round climate, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains is lush with forests, parks and gardens.
It’s no secret that the region enjoys its fair share of rain, but summers are warm and sunny, bringing brilliant colour to the luxuriant, year-round foliage.All manner of plants co-exist: those that are indigenous to the temperate rain forest (the northern counterpart of the tropical forest) like enormous Douglas firs, red cedars, giant thuyas, and western hemlocks, as well as countless European and Asian plants that have been imported over the decades. In downtown Vancouver alone, when spring arrives, the air is scented with Japanese cherry blossoms, vying for attention beside the armies of daffodils, rhododendrons and tulips.It is however, the numerous private and public ornamental gardens that really capture Vancouver’s passion for flowers.
The most resplendent of these include the VanDusen Botanical Garden and Queen Elizabeth Garden in Vancouver, and Minter Gardens in Mighty Fraser Country. Serious gardeners should also visit the research botanical garden at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where 70 rambling acres are planted with over 10,000 different trees, shrubs and flowers, some growing largely as nature intended, while others are more cultivated and formal.The Living Forest at the Capilano Suspension Bridge is another trove of discovery with its panels of interactive displays, offbeat facts and naturalist’s notes provide an intimate understanding of the rainforest. The bug boxes of creepy crawlies at work in the soil are especially fun.Large and lavish aside, it is often the region’s smaller creations that are its greatest treasures.
The Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC, an authentic Japanese garden complete with a Stroll Garden, Tea Garden and ceremonial Tea House, reflects an idealized harmony of nature. And the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Gardens, the only one of its kind outside of China, is an unexpected meditative space in the heart of bustling Chinatown.Further afield, towards the mountains and the Sunshine Coast, the landscape is largely untamed, save for private gardens which showcase unexpected bursts of colour, although in the Valley, quite the opposite is true. Here you’ll find a profusion of dahlias at Fernhill Gardens in Mission – fields of lavender and Echinacea at Tuscan Farm Gardens in Langley as well as Canada’s largest collection of daylilies in Canada – over 900 varieties – at Artemis Gardens in Abbotsford (open only in July during peak bloom time). Don’t miss the tiny Japanese Friendship Garden in Hope, an anomaly in the wilderness, yet typical of the wonderful garden surprises that the region offersnature views…
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July 30, 2004
Posted in: Canada