Lighthouse Park, Vancouver

Lighthouse Park is one of Vancouver’s most popular and most beautiful park areas. Located in West Vancouver the park is about a 30 minute drive from downtown. Once you cross the Lion’s Gate Bridge head west on Marine Drive until you pass the marina, then turn left onto Beacon Lane where the parking lot is located.

Lighthouse Park offers a variety of trails through tall Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, and Douglas Fir trees. Along the waterfront you may also come across Arbutus trees with their smooth red bark. Inside the park you will find washrooms and picnic tables.

With sweeping panoramas of the ocean from different vantage points it’s easy to spend a lot of time here soaking up the scenery. The trails hug the cliffs and the trees provide peekaboo views not only of the coastline, but of boats sailing by.

If you’ve headed from the parking lot towards the Juniper Trail, then continue by walking in a counter-clockwise direction. Eventually you will be facing south towards the University of British Columbia endowment lands. You can explore the rocky beach in places, but be careful of your footing.

The lighthouse is the main attraction here, but the forest also provides some wonderful opportunities to explore the fauna found on the trails.

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Keep walking and you will soon spot the Point Atkinson Lighthouse. This was the first of three lighthouses built along the cliffs to protect ships entering the Port of Vancouver. Built in 1912, it replaced an older wooden lighthouse that stood here. In 1974 the lighthouse was declared a National Historic Site of Canada. This grand lighthouse, combined with the picturesque location, made for some impressive images.

Lighthouse Park is open year-round from 7am to 9pm. The trails can be muddy at times so make sure and wear appropriate footwear. I actually haven’t visited this park recently, but after writing about it, I think it’s time to go again!