Stanley Park in Vancouver

Wednesday, 21 June 2017 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks
Reading Time:  7 minutes

Vancouver Rowing Club © Daderot

Vancouver Rowing Club © Daderot

Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver in Canada and is almost entirely surrounded by waters of Vancouver Harbour and English Bay. The park has a long history and was one of the first areas to be explored in the city. The land was originally used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years before British Columbia was colonized by the British during the 1858 Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. For many years after colonization, the future park with its abundant resources would also be home to nonaboriginal settlers. The land was later turned into Vancouver’s first park when the city incorporated in 1886. It was named after Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, a British politician who had recently been appointed governor general. Unlike other large urban parks, Stanley Park is not the creation of a landscape architect, but rather the evolution of a forest and urban space over many years. Most of the manmade structures we see today were built between 1911 and 1937 under the influence of then superintendent W.S. Rawlings. Additional attractions, such as a polar bear exhibit, aquarium, and miniature train, were added in the post-war period.

Much of the park remains as densely forested as it was in the late 1800s, with about a half million trees, some of which stand as tall as 76 metres (249 ft) and are up to hundreds of years old. Thousands of trees were lost (and many replanted) after three major windstorms that took place in the past 100 years, the last in 2006. Significant effort was put into constructing the near-century-old Vancouver Seawall, which can draw thousands of residents and visitors to the park every day. The park also features forest trails, beaches, lakes, children’s play areas, and the Vancouver Aquarium, among many other attractions.

The forest continues to give the park a more natural character than most other urban parks, leading many to call it an urban oasis. It consists of primarily second and third growth and contains many tall Douglas fir, western red cedar, western hemlock, and Sitka spruce trees. Since 1992, the tallest trees have been topped and pruned by park staff for safety reasons. A large variety of animals live in the park. There are 200 bird species alone, including many water birds. A large great blue heron colony moved into the park in 2001 and has grown to now about 170 active nests. Mammals include a large raccoon population, coyotes, skunks, beavers, rabbits descended from discarded pets, and a thriving grey squirrel population (descended from eight pairs acquired from New York‘s Central Park in 1909). However, there is a complete absence of large mammals including deer, elk, bear, wolves, cougars, and bobcats. Stanley Park also has many manmade attractions. Recreational facilities are especially abundant in the park, having long coexisted, albeit uneasily, with the aesthetic and more natural park features preferred by those looking to the park as an enclave of nature in the city. While it’s not the largest of its kind, Stanley Park is more than 10% larger than New York City’s 340-hectare (840-acre) Central Park and almost half the size of London‘s 960-hectare (2,360-acre) Richmond Park.

Stanley Park Promenade © Chris Vlachos/cc-by-3.0 Stanley Park © Panida3744/cc-by-sa-3.0 © flickr.com - SqueakyMarmot/cc-by-2.0 Totem Poles © Another Believer/cc-by-sa-3.0 Stanley Park and the cruise ship Amsterdam under Lions Gate Bridge © buzzard525/cc-by-3.0 Frederick Stanley statue in Stanley Park © Bobanny Cricket match in Stanley Park © flickr.com - Duncan Rawlinson/cc-by-2.0 Vancouver Rowing Club © Daderot
<
>
Stanley Park and the cruise ship Amsterdam under Lions Gate Bridge © buzzard525/cc-by-3.0
The park was designated a National Historic Site of Canada by the federal government in 1988. It was deemed significant because the relationship between its “natural environmental and its cultural elements developed over time” and because “it epitomizes the large urban park in Canada.”

The Vancouver Seawall is popular for walking, running, cycling, inline skating, and even fishing (with a licence). There are two paths, one for skaters and cyclists and the other for pedestrians. The lane for cyclists and skaters goes one-way in a counterclockwise loop. Walking the entire loop around Stanley Park takes 2 to 3 hours, while biking it takes about 1 hour.

A rideable miniature railway with different seasonal themes is a Vancouver tradition, especially for families with young children. The original railway, started in 1947, featured a child-sized train. The current adult-sized railroad opened in 1964 in an area leveled by Typhoon Freda. The engine is a replica of the first transcontinental passenger train to arrive in Vancouver in the 1880s.

Beaver Lake is a restful space nestled among the trees. The lake is almost completely covered with water lilies (introduced for the Queen’s Jubilee in 1938) and home to beavers, fish, and water birds. As of 1997, its surface area was just short of 4 hectares (10 acres), but the lake is slowly shrinking in size. One of Vancouver’s few remaining free-flowing streams, Beaver Creek, joins Beaver Lake to the Pacific Ocean and is one of two streams in Vancouver where salmon still return to spawn each year.

Lost Lagoon, the captive 17-hectare (41-acre) freshwater lake near the Georgia Street entrance to the park, is a nesting ground to many bird species, including swans, Canada geese, and ducks.

The oldest manmade landmark in the park is an 1816 naval cannon located near Brockton Point. The 9 O’Clock Gun, as it is known today, was fired for the first time in 1898, a tradition that has continued for more than 100 years. The cannon was originally detonated with a stick of dynamite, but is now activated automatically with an electronic trigger.

Stanley Park also has playgrounds, sandy beaches, gardens, tennis courts, an 18-hole pitch and putt golf course, a seaside swimming pool, a water spray park, and Brockton Oval, which is used for track sports, rugby, and cricket. In summer, there is an outdoor theatre Malkin Bowl, which features events by Theatre Under the Stars and Live Nation (with their Concerts in the Park series).

Read more on vancouver.ca – Stanley Park, DestinationVancouver.com – Stanley Park, The Teahouse in Stanley Park, KanadaVisum.com and Wikipedia Stanley Park (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

The Ha Long Bay in Vietnam

The Ha Long Bay in Vietnam

[caption id="attachment_168749" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ha Long Bay © Arianos[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Hạ Long Bay (Vietnamese: Vịnh Hạ Long) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phả town, bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China, and is a part of Vân Đồn District. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes....

[ read more ]

The Freedom Bell in Berlin

The Freedom Bell in Berlin

[caption id="attachment_24891" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Freedom Bell © ANKAWÜ[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Freedom Bell in Berlin, is a bell that was given as a gift from Americans to the city of Berlin in 1950 as a symbol of the fight for freedom and against communism in Europe, and was inspired by the American Liberty Bell. Since 1950, the bell has been located in the Rathaus Schöneberg, the former city hall of West Berlin. The 10-ton bell arrived from the British foundry of Gillett and Johnston to a ticker...

[ read more ]

The port city of Portsmouth

The port city of Portsmouth

[caption id="attachment_153505" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Old Portsmouth © flickr.com - eNil[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island. It is situated 64 miles (103 km) south west from London and 19 miles (31 km) south east from Southampton. As a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth is home to the world'...

[ read more ]

Raleigh in North Carolina

Raleigh in North Carolina

[caption id="attachment_165724" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Downtown Raleigh from Boylan Avenue © Jmalljmall[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Raleigh is the capital of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city. The city's population is at as 451,000. It is also one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the lost Roanoke Colony in pr...

[ read more ]

False Creek in Vancouver

False Creek in Vancouver

[caption id="attachment_153916" align="aligncenter" width="590"] False Creek at blue hour © flickr.com - Kenny Louie/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]False Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is also spanned by the Granville Street and Cambie bridges. The Canada Line tunnel ...

[ read more ]

The Celebrity Equinox

The Celebrity Equinox

[caption id="attachment_162777" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Celebrity Equinox in San Miguel de Cozumel © Ricraider/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Celebrity Equinox is a Solstice-class cruise ship built by Meyer Werft in Germany. Celebrity Equinox is the second of the five Solstice-class vessels, owned and operated by Celebrity Cruises. She is a sister ship of Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Silhouette and the Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity Equinox entered commercial service for Celebrity Cruises o...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Peru - Lima

Theme Week Peru - Lima

[caption id="attachment_219368" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Lima City Hall © WMrapids[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area. With a population of more than 9 million, Lima is one of the largest cities in the Americas. Lima was named by n...

[ read more ]

Le Mans in the Pays de la Loire

Le Mans in the Pays de la Loire

[caption id="attachment_184697" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Palais du Grabatoire © Fafner/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Le Mans is a city on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, a s...

[ read more ]

Miami Modern architecture (MiMo)

[caption id="attachment_231876" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Bacardi Building in Edgewater © Averette/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Miami Modernist architecture, or MiMo, is a regional style of architecture that developed in South Florida during the post-war period. The style was internationally recognized as a regionalist response to the International Style. It can be seen in most of the larger Miami and Miami Beach resorts built after the Great Depression. Because MiMo styling was not just a response to internationa...

[ read more ]

Theme Week East Anglia - Burnham Thorpe

Theme Week East Anglia - Burnham Thorpe

[caption id="attachment_151495" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson © geograph.org.uk - Nigel Jones/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Burnham Thorpe is a small village and civil parish on the River Burn and near the coast of Norfolk. It is famous for being the birthplace of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of Britain's greatest heroes. At the time of his birth, Nelson's father, Edmund Nelson, was rector of the church in Burnham Thorpe. The house i...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Town Hall © Janek Szymanowski/cc-by-sa-3.0
Theme Week South Africa – Ladysmith

Ladysmith is a town in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal. It is 230 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Durban and...

East London - City Hall on Oxford Street © Bfluff/cc-by-sa-3.0
Theme Week South Africa

South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded on the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of...

Market Street and Downtown from Twin Peaks © Vincent.bloch
Theme Week San Francisco

San Francisco (Spanish for Saint Francis) officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial...

Schließen