With five routes on the Circle Farm Tour program, the Fraser Valley could keep farm visitors busy all harvest season. Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows and Agassiz/Harrison Mills all have their own self-guided routes (download at circlefarmtour.com) of about a dozen stops each, including farm-gate vendors, markets, wineries, breweries and eateries.
By Charlene Rooke
FARMS
The Chilliwack Circle Farm Tour includes Fantasy Farms (home of the Chilliwack Garlic Festival and a fun haunted-farm attraction starting in late September), Old Yale Brewing, plus honey, grain, blueberry, poultry, cheese and soap producers, along with farm market The Local Harvest and gourmet paradise Hofstede’s Country Barn.
FUN
The Instagram-ready B.C. Sunflower Trail lists a handful of stops, including the Chilliwack Sunflower Festival that runs through September 16. The Chilliwack Corn Maze and indoor Hay Bale Maze (don’t forget to pick a pumpkin while you’re there) are equally photographable: you can even do a flashlight maze after dark!
FARM TO GLASS
The Mt. Lehman Sojourn in the Country is an Abbotsford-area wine route past Mt. Lehman, Seaside Pearl and Singletree Wineries, plus Old Abbey Ales, Tangles Bistro at Tanglebank plant nursery, Tuscan Farm Gardens and other like-minded rural stops. The Abbotsford area also has worthy fruit-winery stops including Maan Farms and Ripples Wineries, plus Campbells Gold Honey Farm and Meadery.
“Hop to bottle” ultra-local beer is a Fraser Valley specialty, since locations like McMath Farms grow hops. The Fraser Valley Ale Trail (bcaletrail.ca) has cycling, driving and transit/walking options for six stops, including Old Yale, Flashback, Ravens, Field House, Dead Frog and Trading Post breweries.
EVENTS
The Agassiz Fall Fair (September 13-14), Harvest Festival (September 22) or Thanksgiving dinners (October 12-14) at Kilby Historic Site in Harrison Mills are prime days to visit the valley in harvest season.