Peace Arch International Park
August 18, 2023
Did you know that there is a place along our northern border where you can walk into Canada and no one cares? There's no requirement to talk to a border guard, no obligation to carry a passport, no need to declare anything, and no inspection whatsoever, but when you step over the line, you have left the United States and are standing in Canadian territory.
It works in the other direction, too. Canadians can show up here and walk right into the United States. No questions asked.
Welcome to Peace Arch, a monument which straddles the US/Canada border at the northern end of Interstate 5, just a half hour south of Vancouver, BC. The dramatic arch towers 67 feet above the park, or 20 meters for those approaching from the Canadian side, right in the median of the highway as it crosses the border, providing an impressive welcome to travelers moving in both directions.
The idea for the Peach Arch was conceived in 1914, to celebrate the kinship between the United States and Canada, 100 years after the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. That war marked the last time these two nations were on opposite sides in a conflict. At the time of the arch's construction, the two countries had enjoyed a peaceful coexistence for a century, and residents of either nation free to cross the longest unguarded border on earth.
More than a century later, the arch remains as a landmark for peace and cooperation. Sitting directly on the 49th parallel, in the median of the highway, between the two border crossing inspections. There's a park on both sides of the border, with a lush lawn and shaded picnic areas. it's actually two parks: A Washington State Park to the south and a British Columbia Provincial Park to the north.
Visitors to either park are free to cross into the other without any border formalities whatsoever, with only two restrictions: visitors must leave the park on the same side from which they entered, and visitors must not stray beyond the boundaries of the park, which are well-marked. When I visited the park, I did so during a trip to Canada, so I parked my car on the Canadian side and entered from the north. Even though I am a US citizen, I was not allowed to leave the park on the Washington side; I would have to pass through the port of entry to formally enter the United States.
Although the Arch is adorned with an open gate and bears the inscription, "May these gates never close," the border was indeed closed for nearly two years during the pandemic. The park, however, remained open, at least on the American side, so families with relatives living on both sides of the border used this park as a refuge to meet up during the time when border crossings were prohibited. Some news accounts even mentioned couples meeting up here for conjugal visits inside tents! Peace Arch Park provided opportunities for people to try and maintain some small measure of normalcy during a time when things were anything but normal.
