Stanley Park

Visitor Guide to Vancouver's Great Urban Park

⏱ 2 hours to full day👤 All agesFree

Opened in 1888 and named for a Canadian governor general, Stanley Park is a roughly 1,000-acre (400-hectare) park occupying a peninsula at the edge of downtown Vancouver — larger than New York's Central Park and, remarkably, largely left as natural West Coast temperate rainforest rather than landscaped. It's the city's pride and one of the most celebrated urban parks anywhere.

Its defining feature is the Seawall, a paved path that runs around the park's entire waterfront perimeter (about 9 km within the park, part of Vancouver's continuous ~28-km seawall, the longest uninterrupted waterfront path in the world). Walking or cycling the Seawall, with the downtown skyline, the harbor, English Bay, the Lions Gate Bridge, and the North Shore mountains unfolding around you, is one of the essential Vancouver experiences (bike rentals are available near the park entrance).

Beyond the Seawall, the park is full of attractions: the famous totem poles and First Nations welcome figures at Brockton Point, miles of forest trails through giant cedars and firs, sandy beaches (Second and Third Beach), Lost Lagoon and Beaver Lake, the Rose Garden and other gardens, a seasonal miniature railway, the Vancouver Aquarium, viewpoints like Prospect Point, and the swimming pool and spots to picnic. It's free to enter and enjoy (you pay only for the aquarium, bike rentals, parking, or the train). Allow anywhere from a couple of hours for a Seawall stroll to a full day to explore it all — it's the natural centerpiece of any Vancouver visit.