Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Ñaño house with mausoleum skull in foreground.
Ñaño Casa Museo
Honningsvåg Bamse Statue
Honningsvåg Bamse Statue
The salt cairn.
The Lewis and Clark Salt Works
South entrance.
Reigate Tunnel
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Cacio e pepe lasagna combines two classics.
C'è Pasta... E Pasta!
Spaghetto taratatà is named for the sound of rattling sabers.
Giano Restaurant
The gnocchi here get blanketed in a sugo with braised oxtail.
Cesare al Pellegrino
Romans insist you should feel the cracked peppercorns and cheese grains on your tongue.
Flavio al Velavevodetto
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The 2,653-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail spans the entire West Coast from Canada to Mexico.
Meet the Volunteers Who Keep Thru-Hikers Moving
9 days ago
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House building on the U.S.-Canadian border.
Could New Border Restrictions Literally Tear the Haskell Free Library Apart?
9 days ago
A woman peering into the cave of Sarah Bishop c. 1900.
The Curious History of New England’s Hermit Tourism
9 days ago
The Big Well
This Kansas Town Advertised the World’s Largest Well. It Wasn’t.
10 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Canada British Columbia Coquitlam Riverview Hospital
AO Edited

Riverview Hospital

Historic psychiatric asylum and most-filmed location in the Great White North.

Coquitlam, British Columbia

Added By
+M M+
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
(Justus Hayes/Shoes on Wires/shoesonwires.com/Flickr)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoes_on_wire...
(Justus Hayes/Shoes on Wires/shoesonwires.com/Flickr)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoes_on_wire...
(Justus Hayes/Shoes on Wires/shoesonwires.com/Flickr)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoes_on_wire...
(Justus Hayes/Shoes on Wires/shoesonwires.com/Flickr)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoes_on_wire...
Inside The Westlawn building at Riverview   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
Hallway on first floor   rosenberggrant / Atlas Obscura User
Patient room   rosenberggrant / Atlas Obscura User
Basement tunnels   rosenberggrant / Atlas Obscura User
Westlawn building   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
Hallway on 3rd floor   rosenberggrant / Atlas Obscura User
Grave marker at Riverview Asylum grounds cemetery   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
Riverview Westlawn steps   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The stigma of mental illness is such that there seems to be an unavoidable sense of tragedy and trepidation evoked by psychiatric hospitals. One can’t help but wonder, what untold stories could be uncovered from the relics of an institution that has witnessed the torment of so many personal demons?

Dating back to the early 1900s, Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, has treated psychiatric survivors until as recently as the summer of 2010. West Lawn Pavilion, the first of the Riverviews' character buildings, opened in 1913 and was home to B.C.’s most psychotically disturbed male patients. Since its closure in 1983, West Lawn is the most frequently visited and photographed abandonment on the property.

From the hauntingly desolate images posted online by urban explorers and ghost hunters, it’s hard to imagine that Riverview Hospital is also home to a thriving arboretum of over 1,900 trees and a diverse wildlife population that includes black bears, bobcats, coyotes, black-tailed deer, and over 80 bird species. From its inception in 1904, Riverview was intended to serve as both a mental health facility accommodating overflow from Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital and as a botanical garden for the province of British Columbia. The government purchased 1,000 acres of Coquitlam farmland to accomplish this ambitious goal, though the botanical garden was eventually relocated to the University of British Columbia.

Now fully decommissioned and abandoned - with the hospital’s remaining 201 patients transferred as of July 2010 - the buildings at Riverview face an unknown fate. Over the years, the 1,000 sprawling acres initially allotted for the hospital have been reduced to 244 acres as large sections have been transformed into the Riverview Heights housing development, Colony Farm Regional Park, and Riverview Forest Park. Concerned about potential demolition for market development, advocates for Riverview are pushing for continued psychiatric care for the province’s mentally ill as well as public commitments to preserve the site’s historic 20th-century architecture and lush ecosystem.

In the meantime, with its eerie decrepit interiors and serene landscape, Riverview remains Canada’s most highly scouted film location. In recent years, the hospital’s West Lawn, East Lawn (formerly the Female Chronic Unit), and Crease Clinic buildings have been the backdrop for such productions as Saw, Watchmen, Smallville, Fringe, Dark Angel, The X Files, Supernatural, Romeo Must Die, and Along Came A Spider.

In April 2009, Riverview was officially recognized on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The Riverview premises are currently under the surveillance of security personnel from the Paladin Security Group. Given the recent closures, it is uncertain whether tours will still be available via the Riverview Hospital Museum and the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society.

Related Tags

Film Locations Abandoned Abandoned Hospitals Insane Asylums Abandoned Insane Asylums Memento Mori Architectural Oddities Ruins Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

morinaga

Edited By

CatCanoe, rosenberggrant, CatAshbee

  • CatCanoe
  • rosenberggrant
  • CatAshbee

Published

January 25, 2011

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • Wikipedia: Riverview Hospital (Coquitlam): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverview_Hospital_%28Coquitlam%29
  • Urban Ghosts Media: Riverview Mental Hospital: More From West Lawn: http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2010/02/riverview-mental-hospital-more-from-west-lawn/
  • Coquitlam: Riverview Hospital Lands: http://www.coquitlam.ca/Residents/About+Coquitlam/Riverview+Hospital+Lands.htm
Riverview Hospital
Riverview Hospital
Coquitlam, British Columbia, V3C
Canada
49.245543, -122.808882
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Playground of the Gods

Burnaby, British Columbia

miles away

Buntzen Lake Powerhouses

Anmore, British Columbia

miles away

Friendship 500

Maple Ridge, British Columbia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of British Columbia

British Columbia

Canada

Places 135
Stories 22

Nearby Places

Playground of the Gods

Burnaby, British Columbia

miles away

Buntzen Lake Powerhouses

Anmore, British Columbia

miles away

Friendship 500

Maple Ridge, British Columbia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of British Columbia

British Columbia

Canada

Places 135
Stories 22

Related Stories and Lists

18 Abandoned Psychiatric Hospitals, and Why They Were Left Behind

List

By Molly McBride Jacobson

Related Places

  • Camber Castle.

    Rye, England

    Camber Castle

    Henry VIII's forgotten castle was built by the gunpowder-obsessed king to be defended solely by cannons.

  • The Odd Fellows Home.

    Liberty, Missouri

    Odd Fellows Home

    The ruins of a 19th century shelter run by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

  • The Viaduct Petrobras

    Brazil

    Viaduct Petrobras

    An abandoned stretch of elevated road in the middle of the Brazilian jungle.

  • Medfield State Hospital

    Medfield, Massachusetts

    Medfield State Hospital

    Unlike other abandoned asylums this empty institution welcomes visitors, just don't go in the buildings.

  • Letchworth Village canteen and kitchen

    Thiells, New York

    Letchworth Village

    Decades after testing the polio vaccine on unwitting patients, this historic mental hospital sits in ruin.

  • Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis.

    Samarkand, Uzbekistan

    Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis

    The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

  • Kazanlak, Bulgaria

    Buzludzha Monument

    An abandoned saucer-shaped monument in the Bulgarian mountains.

  • South tower

    Dobbs Ferry, New York

    St. Cabrini Novitiate

    This dilapidated castle-like structure overlooks the Hudson River at one of its widest points and was once home to nuns.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.