Lafarge Lake is a small 10-hectare urban park in the middle of Coquitlam's new City Centre. It started as a gravel pit owned by the Lafarge cement company and was converted into a public park in the 1980s around a small artificial lake. Today it's the green anchor of Coquitlam City Centre — a 1.2-km flat paved loop around the water, a rowboat rental, a beach, a playground, and the open-air Evergreen Cultural Centre on the west side. Because the Lafarge Lake–Douglas SkyTrain station is literally at the park's edge, it's one of the most transit-accessible parks in Metro Vancouver.
The real reason to visit is Lights at Lafarge, which runs from late November through January. It's a free walk-through light display with more than 100,000 LED lights wrapped around the trees, bridges, and sculptures along the full perimeter loop. It's genuinely stunning, it's entirely free, and it's better than most of the paid Christmas light events in the region. The Lights at Lafarge program has been running for over a decade and has become a genuine Metro Vancouver holiday tradition — bring a thermos of hot chocolate, walk the loop in about 45 minutes, and take the SkyTrain home.
In summer, the lake is used for rowing, the beach has a supervised swimming area, and the park hosts outdoor concerts and cultural events at the Evergreen Cultural Centre. Year-round, it's the best free public space in Coquitlam City Centre.
How to get there
Lafarge Lake–Douglas SkyTrain station on the Millennium Line Evergreen Extension is directly at the park's edge. From downtown Vancouver, the trip takes about 45 minutes with a transfer at Commercial–Broadway.
Local tips
- The Lights at Lafarge Christmas display (November–January) is free and world-class
- The perimeter loop is 1.2 km, fully flat, and stroller-friendly
- The beach has a supervised swimming area in summer
- Evergreen Cultural Centre hosts outdoor concerts in summer