British Columbia: Where to get good rocks for building a dry fit retaining wall?

Hi everyone!

Where can I find big to medium (i.e 8" to 16") sized boulders or rocks in or around Vancouver BC?

I'm re-designing my front yard using permaculture design principles and I want to replace an old retaining wall made from PT wood by building a dry fit rock wall.

I've found a few people giving away rocks through Craigslist but I need a bunch more and preferably with some flat edges to make fitting easier. Broken or blasted rock is probably best from what I've read and seen.

Someone told me to check along the Sea to Sky highway but not sure where or if anyone knows other good places to look or go to. I have a 4x4 truck and strong trailer so I can navigate to most places.

Thanks for anyone's help with this.

 

You can't take them from the rivers. Look for Landscape Supply companies on line. There are some good ones down off of Marine Way in Burnaby close to the New Westminster border and the Hare Krishna temple.

 

Thanks for the info. I was not thinking to take from the rivers because I know that's bad for them but also because I need broken rock and not round river rock.

On a major budget so have been sourcing rocks from people via Craigslist but there's not many available and it's taking a long time. I was wondering if there might be piles of leftover rock from road construction along the Sea to Sky or maybe along some forest service roads.

It was just a thought to help speed up the project.

Thanks!

 

You could take a drive up the sea to sky....how about Quarry Road in north east Coquitlam? Behind Minnikhada Park

 

Take a look at today's free section of Craigslist for Vancouver. Someone had a giant granite boulder that was broken up and the picture shows straight edges.

 

Years ago I replaced about 6 ft. high and175 ft. long rock wall my father had built. He had used rounded local rock from the property and built it mostly straight up not pulled out at the base and leaning back as it rose. It was beginning to bulge in places and was starting to come down.
I found pieces of a lg. concrete floor that had been busted up. It worked really well. The longer narrow pieces I could put lengthwise back into the bank to help stabilize the whole thing. 20 yrs. later and no signs of coming down. barb