Campbell Valley Day Trip: Trails and Farmstead

Is Campbell Valley a good late October day trip? Yes, if you want fields, a small river, and a short accessible loop in the Township of Langley, and you stay out of one construction zone. Metro Vancouver says forests, fields and wetlands here provide wildlife habitat, and that walkers, cyclists and horseback riders can use the trail network, or visit the Nature House. For late October 2026 the planning facts are these. The park is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until November 2, then 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. from November 3. Little River Loop is 2.3 km return and flat. The eastern McLean Pond area is closed for trail and parking lot construction. The Nature House's posted open season ends at Labour Day, so do not plan the visit around a staffed nature house this month.

Snapshot

| Piece | What to plan | | --- | --- | | Where | Campbell Valley Regional Park, Township of Langley. Use the Google map link on the Metro Vancouver park page. | | Hours | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., October 6 to November 2. 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., November 3 to December 31. The December 2025 brochure says gates generally open at 7 a.m. and are locked after closing. | | Short walk | Little River Loop, 2.3 km return, about 1 hour, flat and wheelchair accessible. It crosses the Little Campbell River twice. | | Next short option | Ravine Trail Loop, 1.8 km return, about 40 minutes, with one steep hill. Boardwalks can be slippery when wet. | | Long options | Shaggy Mane Trail loop, 11 km, about 3.5 hours. Perimeter Trail, 20 km, about 8 hours. | | Closed zone | Eastern McLean Pond area and trails, for construction. Use other trails. No end date on the Oct. 21 notice. | | Nature House | Posted hours are Victoria Day weekend through Labour Day, Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | | Dogs | Leashed, except an off leash area at 4 Avenue. | | Cycling | Only on the Perimeter Trail. | | Fire rating | Listed as moderate when we checked on Oct. 21. Check the park page the day you go. |

Why the valley still works with one area closed

The closure is real and rated high, and it is not the whole park. The Oct. 21, 2026 alert says the section marked red on the map is closed for trail and parking lot construction east of McLean Pond. Expect crews and equipment. Stay out of the closed area and use the other trails.

The walks that make a half day sit elsewhere on the December 2025 brochure. Little River Loop is the easy one: flat, wheelchair accessible, two crossings of the Little Campbell River, and raised boardwalks for watching wildlife. Ravine Trail Loop is shorter still, with one steep hill, and part of it follows the bed of an old narrow gauge railway that took logs to a mill in the early 1900s.

Getting there

Driving. Use the Google map on the park page. Entrances named on the closure map include the North Valley Entrance, the South Valley Entrance, the 4 Avenue Entrance and the South Carvolth Entrance. This guide does not invent parking fees.

Horse trailers. The brochure says to unload horse trailers at the Campbell Downs Equestrian Centre. In very wet weather the cross country course and riding ring close to limit damage.

Transit. The park page lists transit as a feature. This guide does not copy a route, because the expanded transit note was not in the text we could read on Oct. 21. Use TransLink Trip Planner the morning you go.

Half-day outline

1. Pick an entrance away from the red zone. The closure map marks the closed section in red beside the east side of McLean Pond, in the north of the park. Camp Coyote, a group camp the brochure places near the trails and McLean Pond, is drawn west of the pond. Do not assume a trail on the east side of the pond is open. If you have a Camp Coyote booking, call 604-432-6352 and read the map before you go. The brochure says the camp holds 40 people and has pit toilets, a picnic shelter and a fire ring.
2. Walk Little River Loop. It is 2.3 km return, about an hour, flat, and the brochure calls it wheelchair accessible. It crosses the Little Campbell River twice.
3. Add Ravine Trail Loop only if you want the hill. It is 1.8 km return and about 40 minutes. Boardwalks can be slippery when wet.
4. Save Shaggy Mane and the Perimeter Trail for a long day. Shaggy Mane is an 11 km loop, about 3.5 hours, with steep climbs and some muddy sections in season. Hikers yield to equestrians. The brochure says there are few ways to shorten it. The Perimeter Trail is 20 km and about 8 hours, flat and listed as wheelchair accessible, through fields and forest, with some road links on the east side. Cyclists belong on this trail only.
5. Stop at the farmstead if you want the history, and leave the farmhouse alone. Alexander Annand arrived from Nova Scotia in 1886, cleared land for cattle and hay, and planted foxglove for bees. Len Rowlatt owned the farm from 1918 to 1973, when Metro Vancouver acquired it. Most of the buildings were restored and designated a municipal heritage site in 1988. The brochure says to respect the privacy of the farmhouse resident.

Current alerts

Eastern McLean Pond, high. Trail and parking lot construction. The red section on the official map is the closed area. The notice does not give a start date or an end date. It tells visitors to keep out and to use the other trails in the park. That is the only Campbell Valley alert on the Metro Vancouver list we checked on Oct. 21, 2026.

Nature House. The park page says it is open from the Victoria Day weekend in May to Labour Day in September, on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Late October is outside that window. The December 2025 brochure says it is usually open on weekend afternoons in summer. Do not plan on hosts being there this month.

Fire rating. The park page showed moderate when we checked. At that rating the page allows wood campfires and portable gas campfires only in designated fire rings, and charcoal and propane barbecues and gas cooking stoves only at picnic tables. Stay with the fire or stove. Put charcoal in the designated receptacles. Report wildfires to 911. The page lists 604-432-6350 for more information. Recheck the rating the day you go.

Dogs, wildlife and park rules

• Dogs must be leashed and under control, except at the off leash area at 4 Avenue. Scoop the poop. The brochure says even a well trained dog can frighten or injure wildlife and visitors.
• Never feed, disturb or approach wildlife, and do not leave garbage. That is the brochure's wildlife rule.
• Cycling is only on the Perimeter Trail. Do not ride the other trails. The brochure says cyclists can continue east on roads to reach the South Langley Regional Trail and the High Point multi use trail.
• On Shaggy Mane, which is open to hiking and horseback riding, pedestrians yield to equestrians.
• Vegetation removal is prohibited.
• The brochure says liquor and cannabis are not permitted, and that smoking is limited to signed areas for tobacco and e-cigarettes, not cannabis. The park page also lists an alcohol allowed area among its features. Follow the signs on site rather than assuming a blanket rule from either line alone.
• The park page lists no fishing among its features. This guide does not add a fishing how to.
• Commercial photography needs a permit. The park page says to apply online.
• To reserve the Old Orchard Picnic Area, the Annand/Rowlatt Farmstead group area, or the Little River Bowl and Historic Langley Speedway group area, the brochure lists 604-432-6352.

Accessibility

The December 2025 brochure says these places are wheelchair accessible: the Nature House and Wildlife Garden, the Old Orchard group picnic area, Camp Coyote, Little River Loop, the Perimeter Trail, and the Campbell Valley Downs Equestrian Centre. Picnic tables and toilets at the North Valley Entrance and the South Valley Entrance are also wheelchair accessible. Little River Loop is the accessible walk that fits a half day. The Nature House building may be visitable as architecture, but the posted host hours are the summer window above.

Heritage, if you want one more stop

Lochiel Schoolhouse was built in 1924 near 16 Avenue and 227 Street, on land donated by Alexander Cameron, and named for his family home in Scotland. It was a school until 1975, then a community hall. In 1988 the Langley Heritage Society moved it to the park and restored it. The brochure says the Langley Centennial Museum offers programs there and lists 604-888-3922. Confirm any program before you treat the schoolhouse as open.

Pairing ideas

Other still-current guides on Trends Today:

• Fort Langley day trip for the nearby village
• Minnekhada Regional Park day trip for a Coquitlam marsh and lodge walk
• Burnaby Lake Regional Park day trip for another flat wildlife loop

Sources

• Metro Vancouver: Campbell Valley Regional Park (hours, fire rating, Nature House hours, commercial photography, the McLean Pond alert)
• Metro Vancouver: Park alerts and notices (eastern McLean Pond closure, checked Oct. 21, 2026)
• Metro Vancouver: McLean Pond closure map
• Metro Vancouver: Campbell Valley Regional Park brochure, December 2025 (trail distances, cycling, dogs, farmstead, schoolhouse, accessibility, reservations)

Trends Today checked these pages on Oct. 21, 2026. Confirm hours, alerts and the fire rating before you go. For park conditions, the brochure lists the area office at 604-530-4983.