Travel In-Town: North Vancouver's Picturesque Parks
Here are the parks in West Vancouver (Map), From West to East (see other area parks):
Crippen Regional Park (on Bowen Island)
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The 240 hectare Crippen Regional Park is just a short ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, across Howe Sound. The park used to be an island resort in the early 1920s, developed by the Union Steamship Company, but faded by the mid 1940s. The Regional Park was established in 1983. The park has couple of well known features, including Snug Cove, surrounded by steep green hillsides, Killarney Lake, and Bridal Veil Falls with its adjacent salmon fish ladder.
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Whytecliffe Park (Marine Drive, Horseshoe Bay)
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This park is locacted at the northwest tip of the North Shore, a mile west of the BC Ferries docks at Horseshoe Bay. The park is generally though to be named for the white cliffs that border Howe Sound, but is really named for land developer Colonel Whyte in 1914. The park offers spectacular views up the Howe Sound fjord, which extends 42 kiloetres northward up to Squamish, plus tennis courts, a beach, and BC’s only underwater reserve (accessible to scuba divers).
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Lighthouse Park (Beacon Lane)
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This 75 hectare park includes large stands of virgin rainforest, many 60 metres (200 feet) tall and 8 metres (25 feet) in diameter. Paths, covered with red cedar chips, criss-cross the park. The lighthouse at Point Atkinson guides ships into Vancouver harbour, and sits beside the Nature House interpretive centre. The Park was set up in 1881as a lighthouse reserve, and the lighthouse beacon was built in 1914.
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Cypress Provincial Park (Cypress Bowl Road)
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This 3000 hectare park is bordered by Howe Sound, Mount Strachan, Hollyburn Mountain and West Vancouver. The road to this park winds up the mountain, with several spectacular photo opportunities to view Vancouver, and even Mount Baker, the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island. Day-use picnic grounds are scattered throughout the park and wilderness camping is permitted. Cypress Ski Resort boasts the greatest vertical drop of the three North Shore resorts, and there are 27 kilometres of cross-country ski trails in winter, which are used for hiking in summer.
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Dundarave Park (25th Street & Bellevue)
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The park features a screscent beach and Dundarave Peir. Th epier has a restaurant with a view of the harbour. Dunadarave is a busy spot, beside the park is a two-block commercial strip, with a famous mural by Jim Mackenzie on the corner of 25th and Marine Drive, depicting early Vancouver in 1792 before the arrival of explorers. The park is the start of the seawall boardwalk that extends to Ambleside Beach, a length of about 15 blocks.
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Ambleside Beach (Marine Drive & 11th Street)
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This 126 hectare grassy waterfront park lies beside the Park Royal shopping centre. The eastern end of the Park sits on Squamish Indian land, the Capilano Indian Reserve. There is a bird sanctuary in the Park, which in addition to view of wild life, offers spectacular views of Vancouver and Stanley Park. This park is the focal point of Wet Vancouver’s fitness crowd, with its six playing fields, the swimming pool, a running track with fitness stations, and a pitch & putt course.
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Capilano River Regional Park (Capilano Park Road)
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This 160 hectare park, alongside the Capilano River straddles both North Vancouver a& West Vancouver. This is the most popular of the Regional Parks in the Vancouver area, because of its spectacular canyon trails, the famous Capilano Suspension Bridge, and several viewpoints. There is a 7 kilometre walking trail from Cleveland Dam at the 'top' of park (holding back Lake Capilano) to mouth of the Capilano River at the First Narrows. The River is navagable by kayaks, and the park has plenty of picnic facilities and a Federal Government fish hatchery.
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Other area parks:
[ West Van |
North Van |
Vancouver |
Richmond |
Delta |
Burnaby |
New West |
Port Moody, Coquitlam |
Surrey |
Langley ]
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