Stanley Park

Stanley Park takes up the northwestern half of the Downtown peninsula, between the West End, Coal Harbour and the Lions Gate Bridge. At about 405 hectares it is roughly a fifth larger than New York's Central Park, and most of it is forest. Indigenous peoples used the land for thousands of years before the city existed, with archaeological evidence of people here going back more than 3,000 years. In 1886 the new city council leased what was then a military reserve for one dollar a year, and the park opened on 27 September 1888. It is named after Lord Stanley, the Governor General, who dedicated it at Prospect Point in 1889. It became a National Historic Site of Canada in 1988 and draws around eight million visits a year.

The best-known feature is the seawall, which runs for 8.8 km around the park's edge. Work on it began in 1917, and today walkers and cyclists have separate lanes. Inland there are more than 27 km of forest trails through temperate rainforest. Destination Vancouver suggests a loop of about 6 km past the gardens and Beaver Lake, with its water lilies, down to Third Beach, which suits walkers of all abilities and is much quieter than the seawall.

Along the shore look out for Siwash Rock near Third Beach, Prospect Point, and the Nine O'Clock Gun, an 1816 cannon first fired in 1898 that is the park's oldest man-made landmark. The Hollow Tree, a stump thought to be 700 to 800 years old, is marked with a plaque. Lost Lagoon, a 17-hectare lake near the Georgia Street entrance, was created between 1913 and 1916 and has been a bird sanctuary since 1973.

The park suits every kind of visitor. Families have playgrounds, a spray park, the heated pool at Second Beach, the miniature railway and the Vancouver Aquarium, which opened here in 1956. There is also an 18-hole pitch and putt course, the Stanley Park Pavilion with its rock garden, and summer theatre at Malkin Bowl. The park is a reminder of nature's power too: a windstorm in 2006 brought down an estimated 10,000 trees.

Entry is free. You can easily spend a whole day here, but half a day covers the seawall or the forest loop plus one or two stops. The seawall is busiest on fine weekends, so start early or head inland for quieter paths. The Georgia Street entrance is a short walk from the West End and Coal Harbour.