Pitt River

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For the river in California also called Pitt River, see Pit River.

The Pitt River is an extremely large (by volume, not length) tributary of the Fraser River, entering it a few miles upstream from New Westminster, British Columbia and about 25km ESE of downtown Vancouver. The river, which begins in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Coast Mountains, is in two sections above and below Pitt Lake and is on a more-or-less north-south course. Like the lake it is tidal in nature as the Fraser's mouth is only a few miles downstream from their confluence. It was named for William Pitt the Younger, who was British Prime Minister when Simon Fraser came down the river now bearing his name in 1808.

East of the lower Pitt River, 20km long, is the community of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, while to its west are the suburb-cities of Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam; opposite its mouth is Surrey. Port Coquitlam and Pitt Meadows are connected by the Highway 7 bridges and the rail trestles of the double-tracked CPR mainline, whose vast main western yards begin on the Pitt's western shore. The plain of the lower Pitt was berry marsh and bog prior to its dyking. The better farmland, and one of the world's most productive cranberry bogs, is on the east bank in Pitt Meadows; the poorer soil quality and scrubland on the west shore has encouraged largescale suburbanization in Port Coquitlam. On the west shore in the upper stretches of the lower Pitt, however, is Minnekhada, residence of former governor-general,Clarence Wallace sold it, to Daon Corp., who sold off portions. The Province then, bought it, anticipating future development in the area, future Provincial governments, sold off even more portions.

The upper Pitt's basin is very short but is fed by a number of very large icecaps and mountain streams, such that the river is extremely large only 50km from its source in Garibaldi Provincial Park. East of the upper Pitt is Golden Ears Provincial Park (formerly a part of Garibaldi Provincial Park. Barge traffic from logging camps in the upper Pitt basin is a regular sight on the Pitt Lake as well as in the area of the two highway bridges and CPR mainline bridge just up from the confluence of the Fraser.

The Pitt is one of a number of north-south river-lake valleys which join the Fraser along the north side of the lower Fraser. The others are the valleys of the Coquitlam River, the Alouette River, the Stave River, Suicide Creek (Norrish Creek), the Chehalis River and, lastly, the valley of Harrison Lake, 60km east of the Pitt.