page_title: Stanley Park
section_title: Attractions
hierarchical_section_title: Stanley Park / Today / Attractions
context_page_description: Stanley Park is a 405-hectare public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, and is mostly surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet 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 non-Indigenous 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. It was originally known as Coal Peninsula and was set aside for military fortifications to guard the entrance to Vancouver harbour. In 1886 Vancouver city council successfully sought a lease of the park which was granted for $1 per year. In September 1888 Lord Stanley opened the park in his name.
context_section_description: 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 about two hours, while biking it takes about one hour.
  There are also more than 27 kilometres (17 mi) of forest trails inside the park. Forest trails are patrolled by members of the Vancouver Police Department on horseback. The Mounted Unit's youth outreach includes offering guided tours of the stables and the ‘Collector’s Trading Card Program,’ which encourages children of all ages to approach a constable on horseback and request a card.
  The 20 in (508 mm) narrow-gauge Stanley Park Railway, 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.
  The windstorm of 2006 revealed traces of a long-forgotten rock garden, which had once been one of the park's star attractions and one of its largest man-made objects by area. Soon after its discovery, a section that encircles part of the Stanley Park Pavilion was restored (the garden had originally extended from Pipeline Road to Coal Harbour).
  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, such as Canada geese, and ducks.
  The Vancouver Aquarium is the largest in Canada and houses a collection of marine life that includes dolphins, belugas, sea lions, harbour seals, and sea otters. In total, there are approximately 300 species of fish, 30,000 invertebrates, 56 species of amphibians and reptiles, and around 60 mammals and birds. The aquarium is also home to a 4D theatre.
  The oldest manmade landmark in the park is an 1816 naval cannon located near Brockton Point. The Nine 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).
caption: A pedestrian path along the Vancouver Seawall
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