The Rotary Trail
About the Trail
The total length of the trail is 15.5 km and takes approximately 6 hours to walk the entire distance. There is a minimal elevation gain of 4 m, but it is generally hard-packed gravel and flat, allowing many users, including wheelchairs to enjoy the trail. Vehicle parking and washroom facilities are located at several locations on the trail.
From the Keith Wilson (Bailey) Bridge and having crossed the Vedder River to the east side, continue heading eastward by going under the bridge from the bridge sidewalk. The Rotary Trail along the Vedder River up to Vedder Crossing at the Vedder bridge on Vedder Mountain Road. Drop onto a trail at the gravel storage site soon after the Keith Wilson Bridge. At the section between two successive bridges, it is a short trip to the Rotary Interpretive Centre at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, approximately 500 metres north of the trail.
On the east side of the railroad and just past the Lickman Road parking area stands a Trans Canada Trail Marker (pavilion). This is kilometre 0 between this pavilion and the one in Hope 100 km later. Continue on this trail to the Vedder Bridge. There is access to the Rotary Trail at the Keith Wilson (Bailey) Bridge, Sumas Prairie Road, Lickman Road, Peach Road, and the Vedder Bridge in Vedder Crossing.
Fishermen often dot the shores of the Vedder River while trekkers are treated to vistas of farmland and mountains, a blue heron rookery called The Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and the Rotary Interpretive Center, and many interpretive markers along the way. Nearby the trail there are the community of Vedder Crossing, the neighbourhood of Garrison Crossing, the former Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack, and the Tzeachten First Nation, a member of the Stö:ló.