Columbia Valley (Lower Mainland)

Sumas Lake (Halq’eméyle: Semá:th Lake, Nooksack: Semáts Xácho7, (Level Place Lake)) was a shallow freshwater lake surrounded by extensive wetlands that once existed in eastern Fraser Lowland, located on the south side of the Sumas River between the foothills of Sumas Mountain (not to be confused with the same-named American mountain) and Vedder Mountain. It disappeared after being artificially drained for flood control and land reclamation from 1920 to 1924, leaving behind a low-lying flatland known as the Sumas Prairie, which is nowadays drained by the Saar Creek (a lower tributary of the Sumas River) and the namesaked Sumas Drainage Canal. The traditional territory of the Semá:th people (Sumas First Nation), a band of the Sto:lo Nation, the lake lay midway between the present-day Canadian cities of Chilliwack and Abbotsford, British Columbia, and extended past the Canada–United States border into the territory east of Sumas, Whatcom County, Washington, necessitating a British Columbia Electric Railway trestle (which remains today as a dyke) across it from Huntingdon to the foot of Vedder Mountain. The lake used to support sturgeon, trout, salmon, grizzly bears and geese, and its wetland habitat was a destination for migrating birds and a breeding ground for both fish and waterfowl. Flocks of white-fronted goose as well as whistling swan and Hutchins geese also used the lake. Its partially sandy banks also provided for sturgeon spawning grounds. The lake supplied food to the Sumas Band, and their life ways were intimately connected to it. In the late 1800s, the lake drew the attention of various naturalists within the growing European population engaged in the work of cataloging the flora and fauna that they encountered where they settled.

Sumas Prairie is a landform in British Columbia, Canada and the State of Washington, United States. Part of the Fraser Lowland, it was created by the draining of Sumas Lake early in the 20th Century, and extends from the Vedder Canal southwestwards into northern Whatcom County, Washington. The British Columbia Highway 1 traverses the former lakebed on the prairie between Abbotsford and Chilliwack.All of its Canadian portion, except its northeasternmost area around Yarrow, which is part of today's City of Chilliwack, was formerly the District of Sumas, which was amalgamated into the City of Abbotsford in 1972.

Maple Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The population was 324 at the 2010 census.

Lindell Beach is a rural farming village in the Columbia Valley of the Lower Mainland region of the province of British Columbia, Canada, lying south of the City of Chilliwack. It is located at the south end of Cultus Lake which is the main waterbody in the Columbia Valley in the South Fraser Valley, and just north of the boundary of the United States. From 2014 to 2019 the area has seen a significant increase in population due to several gated community developments.

Sumas was a district municipality in the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada, located between the then-Village of Abbotsford (W) and Chilliwack (E). It was amalgamated with the Village of Abbotsford in 1972 into the District of Abbotsford.It, prior to amalgamation and after, was a part of the Central Fraser Valley Regional District until the district's abolition in 1995. Notable distinct communities with the municipality were Kilgard and Huntingdon, the latter being the Canadian side of the Sumas Border Crossing into the United States. Most of the municipality was farmland - its dominant landform was the rich agricultural land of Sumas Prairie, which was created through the draining of Sumas Lake early in the 20th Century.

Peaceful Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whatcom County, Washington, United States, near Kendall. The population was 3,324 at the 2010 census.

The Yarrow Ecovillage is an intentional community in Yarrow, British Columbia, Canada. Yarrow is a settlement of 3,000 population within the municipal boundaries of Chilliwack, British Columbia. The Ecovillage is a member-designed community that aims to achieve a more socially, ecologically and economically sustainable way of life. The Ecovillage's master plan for the 10-hectare (25-acre) former dairy farm, foresaw three main legal entities: An 8-hectare (20-acre) organic farm, a 31-unit multigenerational cohousing community (later increased to 33 units), and a mixed-use development with just under 2800 m2 (30,000 sf) of commercial space, a 17-unit senior cohousing community and a learning centre.Chilliwack City Council approved the plans, granting "Ecovillage zoning" in 2006. In January 2015, the Ecovillage had 100 residents (one third of whom were children) in the multigenerational cohousing community ("Groundswell Cohousing"). The organic farm has been in operation since 2003. In January 2014, Groundswell Cohousing at the Yarrow Ecovillage was awarded the "Sustainability Leadership Award" by the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce at the 19th Annual Business Excellence Awards.

The Nooksack Giant was a superlative Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) that grew at Loop's Ranch (now Alpenglow Farm) in Maple Falls in Washington State. It was felled in the 1890s. The tree was measured with a tape after felling at 465 feet (142 m) tall, and 34 feet (10 m) in circumference, making the Nooksack Giant easily the tallest tree ever recorded on the planet. Although anecdotal reports exist of other Douglas firs and mountain ash trees reaching 500 feet (150 m), they are often dismissed as unreliable. It produced more than 96,000 board feet of lumber. The New York Times regarded the tree in a March 7, 1897 issue as the "most magnificent fir tree ever beheld by human eyes" and called its destruction a "truly pitiable tale" and a "crime". The Morning Times of February 28, 1897 claimed that the wood, sawed into one-inch strips, would reach from "Whatcom [the tree's location] to China".

Yarrow is a small community located 90 kilometres east of Vancouver within the City of Chilliwack in British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Fraser Valley at the foot of Vedder Mountain. The village was first settled by Mennonites in the late 1920s, following the draining of Sumas Lake and the reclamation of the former lake bed for agriculture.

Kendall is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The population was 191 at the 2010 census.

The Vedder Mountain is a branch of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest, located at the southeastern edge of the Fraser Lowland in British Columbia, Canada, between the village of Yarrow and the village of Cultus Lake, extending from the Vedder River to the Saar Creek valley. It separates the broad Fraser Valley and Sumas Prairie in its northwest from the narrow Columbia Valley to its southeast. The mountain stands 924 m (3,031 ft) high and is tree-covered to its summit with some open areas. A hiking trail crosses the mountain. Old logging roads are also present. Catherwood Logging rail-logged the hill in the 1930s, and both east and west sides were cut with rails coming from Vedder Crossing.

McDonald Park, in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, is a dark-sky preserve, designated thus by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.The park is located in a valley, and at night light pollution from the nearby cities of Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission is blocked by Sumas Mountain. The park opens at night for observations under the auspices of the Fraser Valley Astronomers Society.