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Explorer

Past stories Living off-the-grid New Brunswick's Saint John River Ontario's Bruce Trail Canadian Ski Marathon Elk Island National Park Rallying for rallysport Montreal - Circus city Beluga Bytes Dawson - a musical adventure Bald Eagle Confederation Trail Boning up on the badlands Ukkusiksalik National Park Geocaching Discover Cypress Hills Saint Joseph's Oratory A walk through Stanley Park Sudbury's science centre Acadia continues Toronto's underground world

Read an excerpt of the July/August '04 Exploration.

In the beginning

A year after Vancouver became a municipality in 1886, the first city council petitioned the federal government to lease 400 hectares of land to the city to be used as a park. Originally a forest of old-growth trees that was home to Musqueam and Squamish First Nations, it was then a marine base for the Royal Navy. The British government handed over the then largely logged forest land, and on September 27, 1888, Stanley Park was officially opened.

Since then, the park has undergone immense changes. In 1937, construction began on the Lions Gate Bridge, which connected the mainland with the rest of the city a year later. And though it took more than 60 years to build, the 8.85-kilometre-long paved seawall that skirts the park was finally completed in 1980.

Stanley Park is now the third largest city-owned park in North America (behind the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco and Chapultepec Park in Mexico City) and hosts more than eight million visitors each year.

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More than monuments

Whether you're a nature or sports enthusiast, a history buff or just looking to get out of the city, Stanley Park has something for almost everyone.

Tennis courts, lawn-bowling greens and an 18-hole pitch-and-putt golf course cater to the sports-minded, while Second and Third beaches and the oceanside heated pool and water park are ideal for water lovers.

Some 30 hiking trails weave through the park, and the seawall offers a route for running, cycling, rollerblading, or simply strolling.

A 15-minute ride on the miniature railway, with a replica of the engine that pulled the first transcontinental passenger train into the city in 1886, offers a glimpse into the past, along with the faded gentility of the Stanley Park Pavilion (built in 1911) and the Malkin Bowl outdoor theatre (first built in 1934 but rebuilt in the 1980s after being destroyed by fire). The Vancouver Aquarium, Canada's largest, opened in 1956 and houses thousands of sea creatures, including four beluga whales (above).

The park also has four restaurants and a host of horticultural treasures, particularly near the Georgia Street entrance.

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Stanley's wild side

The park is probably most used as a natural escape from the bustling city. Some nature numbers:

• More than 200 bird species occupy the park each year.
• Some 46 great blue heron nests were located in the park this spring, more than double the number from the previous two years. The heron (above) is considered a species at risk by the B.C. government.
• The park is treed primarily with typical West Coast evergreens: cedar, hemlock and firs.
• The Lost Lagoon Nature House was opened in 1992 to help educate the public about and preserve the park's wildlife.
• There are two freshwater lakes within the park boundary.
• The Vancouver Aquarium houses more than 33,700 fish and nearly 30,000 invertebrates.
• The city's park board grew more than 153,000 annual flowers last year.

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