Port Coquitlam guide
Things to Do in Port Coquitlam: A Local's List
Walk the 25 kilometre Traboulay loop, dig into the railway past, bowl a frame or throw an axe. A local's list of things to do in PoCo, rainy days included.
Written by Fern Kellaway
Ask someone from PoCo what there is to do here and the answer comes back before the question is finished: the trail. The Traboulay PoCo Trail is the roughly 25 kilometre loop that circles the whole city along riverbanks, dikes and greenbelts, and it is the closest thing the city has to a landmark. It passes Lions Park on the Coquitlam River, runs through the greenbelt behind the neighbourhoods, and reaches the flats around Colony Farm where the rivers meet. Terry Fox grew up in this city, and the outdoor habit runs deep here. Walk the loop in sections and you will meet the whole city doing the same thing.
The railway past is the other half of the story. PoCo grew around the CPR roundhouse, the mainline still runs through the middle of town, and the PoCo Heritage Museum and Archives keeps that history in one place, with the records and the artifacts of a railway town. The heritage strip on Shaughnessy Street is the old downtown, and walking it with the museum in mind changes the storefronts into something older. If you want the city's story, start there, and ask the museum what is on before you visit, because the exhibits rotate and the staff know the collection.
The arts have their own addresses. Leigh Square Community Arts Village gathers the city's arts life in one place, The Clay Warehouse works the pottery end from a bay on McLean Avenue, and Tricity School of Music teaches lessons from the Shaughnessy Street strip. Between the three, a PoCo afternoon can run from gallery to kiln to practice room, and the people who run these rooms are the kind who will tell you what is happening next. Check the listings for what is open when you visit, because studio and gallery hours move with the season.
The play list is longer than the city gets credit for. PoCo Bowl carries the bowling end of things on McAllister Avenue, Urban Axe Throwing brings the axe to the Broadway Street belt, and Mostly Games stocks the tabletop side from its Shaughnessy Street storefront, where the hobbyists shop. Quest Central Gaming Lounge runs the screen-based end from the Lougheed corridor complex, and Ubale Skateboard Co. keeps the skate trade alive on Wilson Avenue. Rainy days in PoCo are not the problem people think they are. The city has an indoor answer for most of them.
Round it out with the outdoors beyond the loop. Carnoustie Golf Club plays its course on Dominion Avenue, and the parks carry the rest: Lions Park by the river, Gates Park on the Mary Hill side, and the greenbelt stretches in between. The rhythm of the list is the rhythm of the city: trail in the morning, the strip at lunch, and something with a roof over it when the weather turns. Every listing here is checked by hand for the directory, and the best plan in PoCo is still the simplest one. Pick a stretch of the loop, start walking, and stop wherever the city looks interesting. It usually does.
From the directory
Mentioned in this article
Every place named above has its own page here, with the address, the hours and the nearest station.
Carnoustie Golf Club
Golf course on Dominion Avenue offering Port Coquitlam players a full round close to home.
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Leigh Square Community Arts Village
Community arts village in Lincoln, listed among the things to do in Port Coquitlam, with its name a fair summary of what it offers.
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Mostly Games
Toy shop on Shaughnessy Street stocking games, puzzles and hobby items for kids and collectors.
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PoCo Heritage Museum and Archives
Museum and archives in Lincoln, Port Coquitlam, holding documents, photographs, and objects from the city's CPR roundhouse roots.
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Quest Central Gaming Lounge
Hobby shop on Lougheed Highway for board gamers, card players and tabletop enthusiasts.
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The Clay Warehouse
Craft supply shop on McLean Avenue in Port Coquitlam stocking clay, pottery materials and project essentials.
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Tricity School of Music
Music school at 2608 Shaughnessy Street in Port Coquitlam offering private instrument lessons for beginners through advancing players.
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Ubale Skateboard Co
Skate shop at 34-2430 Wilson Avenue in Port Coquitlam, carrying small brands chosen by people who actually skate.
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Urban Axe Throwing
Axe-throwing venue at 104-1611 Broadway Street in Port Coquitlam with lanes for walk-ins, groups and coached throwing sessions.
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Who wrote this
Fern Kellaway
Fern Kellaway grew up in Mary Hill, three streets from the rail corridor, and her grandfather worked the CPR yards for most of his life. She lives near Lions Park now and has walked the Traboulay loop weekly for twenty years, which is how she knows which businesses are still there.
