Although the days of the cannery shanties and boomtown characters such as Madame Lulu, who gave her tainted name to Lulu Island, have long since passed their aura seems to linger yet along the riverbanks of the Fraser River.
The Steveston of today has no operating canneries, and the heady, cotton candy scent of berry fields no longer sweeps across Richmond, having been reduced to gentle hints of perfume which occasionally nip at our senses and tug at the hearts of long time residents. What does remain is a pleasing blend of country and urban, and old and new, which evokes fond memories of slower, simpler times while providing a modern, outdoor oriented lifestyle, coupled with easy access to Asian flavoured central Richmond and that gem of the Pacific, the City of Vancouver.

Radiating outward from Steveston are miles of recreational paths and streets winding their scenic way through and around Richmond. After browsing in Steveston’s quaint shops, or lunching on fresh fish and chips, you may wish to cycle or hike the 5.8 Km. Steveston Greenway, which stretches east from Garry Point Park, through Steveston Village and Imperial Landing Seafront Park; past the Murakami Visitor’s Centre, Britannia Heritage Shipyards, London Farm, (tours are a must), the picturesque, little bayou dwellings of Finn Slough, and then north through wooded paths to the Richmond Nature Park. By then you may be ready to sample one of the excellent malls located in central Richmond, mere minutes away by bicycle from the Nature Park.

Or choose the Dyke Trail north of the Village, positioned on the Pacific Flyway, a major bird migration corridor, and view the coastal Sturgeon bank marshes and the Terra Nova Natural Area. As you pass through these nesting and staging areas spot Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles, Blackbirds and many sea birds. In the spring and autumn you may see migrating hordes of Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans, and hear their shrieking clatter as they make travel plans for their various journeys. As the trail turns eastward along the middle arm of the Fraser, where seaplanes and seals share the current, it travels through one of the region’s hot spots for wintering waterfowl. Then north over the Number Two Road Bridge, under the flight path at Vancouver International Airport, and on to Iona Beach Regional Park, another birders’ paradise.