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One of the world's great urban spaces, Stanley Park is Vancouver's green heart, helping lend the city its particular character. At nearly 1000 acres, it's the largest urban park in North America - less a tame collection of lawns and elms than a semi-wilderness of dense rainforest, marshland and beaches. Ocean surrounds it on three sides, with a road and parallel cycleway/pedestrian promenade following the sea wall all the way round the peninsula for a total of 10.5km. From here, views of the city and across the water to the mountains are particularly worthwhile. Away from the coastal trail network and main draw - the aquarium - the interior is nearly impenetrable scrub and forest, with few paths and few people. At the same time there are plenty of open, wooded or flower-decorated spaces to picnic, snooze or watch the world go by. The peninsula was partially logged in the 1860s, when Vancouver was still a twinkle in "Gassy" Jack Leighton's eye, but in 1886 the newly formed city council - showing typical Canadian foresight and an admirable sense of priorities - moved to make what had become a military reserve into a permanent park. Thus its remaining first-growth forest of cedar, hemlock and Douglas fir, and the swamp now known as Lost Lagoon, were saved for posterity in the name of Lord Stanley, Canada's governor general from 1888 to 1893, who dedicated the park "to the use and enjoyment of people of all colours, creeds and customs for all time". A neat itinerary would be to walk or take the bus to the park, stroll or cycle all or part of the sea wall - there's a slew of bike and rollerblade rental places nearby - and then walk back to Denman Street. Here you can grab some food or pause at one of several cafes - the Bread Garden midway down Denman on the left at 1040 Denman and Comox is good - and then sit on the grass or sand at English Bay Beach at the foot of the street. The park is a simple though rather dull walk from most of downtown, if a fairly lengthy one from the eastern districts. Beach Avenue to the south and Georgia to the north are the best approaches if you're on foot, leading to the southern and northern starts of the sea wall respectively. Walking all the way round the sea-wall path takes about two hours at a brisk lick. Perhaps a better approach is to take a Stanley Park bus #23, #35 or #135 from the corner of Burrard and Pender streets downtown, which drop you near the so-called Stanley Park Loop just inside the park by Lost Lagoon and in summer continue deeper into the park to the Upper Zoo Loop (though the zoo's now closed). Other buses which will take you close to the park are the #1 (Beach) to Davie and Beach Avenue and the #3 (Robson) to Denman Street. If you want to rent a bike, go to the corner of Denman and Georgia streets, where there's a cluster of bike rental outlets. Spokes, 1798 W Georgia (tel 688-5141), is a big, busy place established in 1938 (from $3.90 an hour for a wide variety of bikes, including children's bikes and tandems with child trailers). You need to leave ID, and a cash or credit-card deposit. Helmets, which are compulsory in BC, and locks are included in the rental. If this place looks too frenetic you might be better advised to walk a few metres up the street, where Bikes 'n' Blades (tel 602-9899) is smaller, less busy and rents rollerblades as well. Directly opposite at 745 Denman St is Bayshore Bicycle & Rollerblade Rentals (tel 688-2453). From Denman it's just a minute's pedalling to the park, but watch the traffic. If you don't want to walk, cycle or blade, then there's a special TransLink "Stanley Park Shuttle" bus service , which runs on a fifteen-minute schedule in summer (daily June-Aug 10am-6.30pm; information tel 257-8400). It makes fourteen stops around the park. You can transfer to the service from the #1 and #3 buses on Denman or the #23, #35 and #135 at Stanley Park Loop: both Denman and the Loop are a few moments' walk from the shuttle's stops at Stanley Park Entrance, Pipeline Road or the Rowing Club. A $2 day-pass for the shuttle (not other TransLink services) is available on board the bus if you want to hop on and off. If you're just using it to see the park, remember you won't need an extra ticket if you've taken a transfer from the driver and make the onward journey round the park within ninety minutes . Driving a car here is foolish, especially at weekends, when parking is just about impossible. Taking time in the park, however you do it, especially on a busy Sunday, gives a good taste of what it means to live in Vancouver. The first thing you is the Lost Lagoon , a fair-sized lake that started life as a tidal inlet, and got its name because its water all but disappeared at low tide. Dozens of waterfowl species inhabit its shoreline. Just east are the pretty Rose Garden and Vancouver Rowing Club, before which stands a statue of Scottish poet Robbie Burns. From here you can follow the sea-wall path all the way, or make a more modest loop past the totem poles and round Brockton Point. Moving around the sea wall anticlockwise, odd little sights dot the promenade, all signed and explained, the most famous being the Girl in a Wetsuit statue, a rather lascivious update of Copenhagen's Little Mermaid . If you want a more focused walk, the Cathedral Trail , northwest of the Lost Lagoon, takes you past some big first-growth cedars. Beaver Lake , carpeted green with water lilies, is a peaceful spot for a sleep or a stroll. Lumberman's Arch , near the aquarium was raised in 1952 to honour those in the lumber industry, an odd memorial given that the industry in question would probably give its eyeteeth to fell the trees in Stanley Park. Its meadow surroundings are a favourite for families and those looking for a good napping spot. Prospect Point , on the park's northern tip, is a busy spot but worth braving for its beautiful view of the city and the mountains rising behind West Vancouver across the water. There's a cafe-restaurant here, popular for its outdoor deck and sweeping views. West of here lies Siwash Rock , an outcrop which has defied the weather for centuries, attracting numerous native legends in the process, and which is distinguished by its solitary tree (not visible from the road, but quickly reached by path). Further around the wall there are various places to eat and drink, the best being the Teahouse Restaurant at Ferguson Point, about a kilometre beyond Siwash Rock. Though people do swim in the sea at beaches around the park's western fringes, most bathers prefer the swimming pool next to Second Beach . Facilities of all sorts - cafes, playgrounds, golf, outdoor dancing - proliferate near the downtown margins. Guided nature walks are also occasionally offered around the park; ask at the infocentre for details.
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