We turned onto Scott Road just to see the Garden Centre at the Home Depot. We bought nothing but seeing happy people carrying out plants and flowers is never a chore. Rather than just going up King George Blvd, we drove further up Scott Road. From our balcony we can see a startlingly tall new residential tower under construction on the hill opposite the Fraser River from us. We now know the exact location of its base. We took roads that brought us towards Surrey Central.
A bit of exercise was our plan. We parked at the lot by Green Timbers Urban Forest Park. We occasionally stop for a little walk to the lake. The park sits around 13 kilometers (8 miles) from our apartment.
Let me include some unusual facts about this land: This is the place that practically invented the concept of a second chance for BC's nature. Known as the "Birthplace of Reforestation" in British Columbia, this 226-hectare (560-acre) sanctuary, in the heart of Surrey, was once a massive 5,000-acre stand of old-growth giants. It was a legendary tourist stop in the early 1900s as the only virgin forest visible from the Pacific Highway. However, the land was tragically logged to the ground by 1930.
What makes it truly special is the "cultural shift" that followed that destruction: in March 1930, the province's first major replanting project began right here with 121 seedlings, marking a milestone that has since grown into 10 billion trees planted province-wide as of 2024. Today, you can still find 27 surviving trees from that original inaugural plantation. Beyond its forestry history, the park is a literal island of calm featuring over 10 kilometres of nature trails, a glacial erratic rock, and Green Timbers Lake, which is stocked with rainbow trout for local anglers.
On the way home we bought a few things at the T&T Supermarket chain that sells all kinds of foods from Asia.