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Port Coquitlam, B.C. Travel north on Coast Meridian Rd. from Lougheed Hwy, turn R-Apel dr, R–Victoria and continue on to Quarry Rd., where it turns to gravel. Continue on for about 3 km and cross the Deiner Creek bridge, which you should be pretty familiar with by now. You will come to the crest of the hill in about 0.5km passed the bridge. Park your car at the start of the Monroe trail which is on your left side of the road. There’s enough room for about 4-5 cars in that area.
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THE WATERFALL |
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Follow the same directions to the waterfall that you took to the junkyard following the Monroe Trail to start. Continue passed the junkyard for about 5 minutes and you’ll come to MacIntyre Creek. During a dry spell this can easily be missed and makes it hard to believe there’s a beautiful waterfall about 10-15 minutes north. If you come across the white bathtub to your right, you’ve gone too far. If your coming in from the gun club and see the white bath tub on your left you are seconds away from MacIntyre Creek. Unfortunately, there is no other way to this waterfall except straight up MacIntyre Creek itself. During the rainy season or spring runoff you’re up to your knees in water at the start and it only gets worse from there. Please keep in mind when visiting these two locations that if you wait for couple of rainless days they can be easily accessed. The spring runoff would be the only thing to hold you back.
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***Please be cautious of bears in the area*** |
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THE JUNKYARD |
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How to get there? |
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Travel up the Monroe trail for approx. 10-15 minutes max. and you’ll come to the Monroe Trail Head. Look for the RED PLATE on the tree in the middle of picture #1. Now you have the choice of heading north (right) or west (straight). Head west until you reach Deiner Creek another 5 minutes further on. Cross Deiner Creek and you’ll come to a trail on the other side where you can make it out going left in picture #2. Crossing Deiner Creek after a good rain fall (which is 75% of B.C. weather) or spring runoff will be next to impossible. There is another way in, which I’ll explain later.
Once across Deiner Creek follow the trail around and keep to the right as it gradually climbs up a hill. In the spring, fall and summer months its easy to lose the trail so I recommend a machete to hack away all the thick brush. After 5-10 minutes on the trail you’ll come to an open patch and a rusty old conveyor loader that you see in picture #3.
Continue on passed the conveyor loader for another 10-15 minutes and you’ll come to two large trees that have fallen making a large cross or (X). Look down on the ground and you’ll see an old tree embedded in the ground (my personal marker). Turn left (South), walk strait into the bush and you'll come to a clearing and the famous Junkyard. Now you’ve followed my directions to the letter and still no junkyard. “NO WORRIES!” Due to the size of the junkyard you will eventually stumble across some relics and you’re there. The First Blood junkyard is in the lower part of the actual junkyard before the mountain drops off.
There is another way in that I don’t recommend unless you’ve travelled thousands of miles (Reeg’s) or have to film a movie (Herve). You can access the junkyard from the Gun Club but you have to know what trail to take and be able to sweet talk the security guard into letting you cross through their property. During the rainy season you’ll be up to your knees in water at MacIntyre Creek but it is doable. Please email me for more details…
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RAMBO’S TARP (above) — You can imagine my disappointment when I went behind the dump truck and couldn’t find a trace of the famous Rambo tarp. This spot was very overgrown and took some work to clear out. The gravel pile, small A-frame on gravel pile, electric motor (bottom right) and yellow loader way in the back are still there. The conveyor belt has been moved over to Deiner Creek since the filming. |
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The barrel you see on Sly’s right as he enters the junkyard is still in the exact spot it was over 25 years ago. The barrel is actually a tank and is a lot larger in life than it is in the movie; standing at approx. 8 feet. |
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THE TRAILER (below) Here’s a close up of the trailer Rambo takes his rope out of. The trailer is rotting and the supports in the front have since collapsed. |
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***GOOGLE MAP*** |
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***GOOGLE MAP*** |
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THE JUNKYARD & WATERFALL |
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*** The junkyard truck was built by the BRANTFORD TRAILER and BODY LIMITED in Brantford, Ontario, Canada on Dec 8/1960*** |
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Oliver at rambotown.net told me about a rumour of this location being up Burke Mountain in Port Coquitlam as I always thought it was filmed in Hope. I had started using Google Earth and going to all the open patches I found on the mountain. I even found a map with trails to an old saw mill with relics, and a waterfall further on. JACKPOT!!! Well, no sawmill, no relics and the wrong waterfall. I had also checked with a number of Burke Mountain experts who had told me it was gone. When I examined the movie, I realized that Sly had taken his string out of the back of an old semi trailer from an 18 wheeler so I figured it had to be off one of the old logging roads. I happened to be in a book store one day and found an old map of Burke Mountain. This map showed a trail that wasn’t on any of the recent maps I had of the mountain. This wound up being my last resort and the rest was history. As it turns out, it’s only a half hour hike in from the entrance to the start of the Monroe Trail. Go figure… |
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The inside of the trailer where Sly gets his rope . |
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INSIDE THE TRAILER |
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Hanging out at the Dump Truck |
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Overview of the First Blood junkyard |
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How was it found? |
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Some of the relics you’ll come across at the junkyard |
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The famous scene as we watch Rambo run down the hill towards the dump truck. The field is in great shape, I half expected to see it grown over by now. One thing that threw me off when I found it, was the large shelter you see in the picture above. As we all know there is no sign of it in the movie but if you look closely, in the film you can see the supports beside the trailer. |
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A great view from the junkyard |