Riverway Golf Course

Burnaby's only municipally operated 18-hole course, Riverway sits along the Brunette River in the city's southeast corner, bordering Coquitlam and the broad green corridors of the Lower Mainland. The layout opened in 1993 and was designed by Les Furber, one of Canada's most prolific golf architects, whose work tends toward playable, well-routed designs that make strong use of natural terrain. Here, that means a course that weaves through mature woodland and wetland buffers, with water in play on multiple holes and a setting that feels more expansive than you'd expect from a municipal property inside Metro Vancouver.

The course plays to a genuine test for mid-handicappers — long enough off the back tees to demand respect, but approachable for everyday players from the shorter options. Fairways are generous in places, but the trees and water hazards keep errant shots honest. The Brunette River corridor gives several holes a distinctly natural, almost pastoral character rare for an urban public course.

As Vancouver's eastern suburbs go, Burnaby offers some of the region's more accessible public golf, and Riverway sits near the top of that list — a well-maintained, city-owned facility that draws steady play from golfers across the Tri-Cities area year-round, thanks to the Lower Mainland's famously mild winters.