The first time I saw Stanley Park was as a child, squeezed between suitcases in the back seat of a tiny rental Camaro that had somehow managed to trundle our entire family - including a carsick poodle-terrier - across the Rockies. My memories of that trip are mostly nauseous ones.
It wasn't until many years later - while flying in a Helijet over North America's third-largest urban park - that I truly began to appreciate the spectacular beauty of this lush, 400-hectare oasis on Vancouver's western peninsula. As I looked down in awe at this majestic rain forest saturated in a purplish-pink Impressionist glow from the setting sun, I decided right then and there that I must move to this city.
Within a year, I had fulfilled my wish and was living in Vancouver's West End, only a few blocks away from this glorious backyard with its endless natural and man-made attractions that draw an estimated eight million visitors each year.
When I realized I wasn't taking advantage of this sanctuary in the city nearly often enough, I took up jogging. Over the years, I have also tried biking and Rollerblading around the park's 8.5-kilometre-long seawall. But neither means of transport provides the same intoxicating high that I experience whenever my feet hit the pavement. I soak up the fresh dampness of the woods and chase all my worries into the ocean.
I guess I find jogging's more leisurely pace better suited for people watching. Or perhaps it's just that the wheels on a bike subconsciously invoke those queasy memories of my youth. Whatever the case, I usually enter the park, by foot, from Beach Avenue on the west side at English Bay.
On the way in via this route, you will pass four young trees that have been recently planted to replace the oak and two London planes that were infamously poisoned by an interior designer who lived across the street. Incredibly, she got off with a complete discharge, but was forced to sell her $1.7-million condominium after protesters kept pelting her balcony with eggs and taunting her with hate mail.
From this entrance, you can veer right and follow the road past the tennis courts and adjacent heronry. This year, the park's seasonal winged residents have built at least 150 nests in this patch of 24 trees. But since there are plenty of spindle-legged herons to be spotted all over the park, I usually go straight and follow the upper-level path past the Stanley Park Lawn Bowling Club to catch a glimpse of the senior members. They always look so dignified in their crisp summer whites.
The shaded path leads to an open field at Ceperley Meadow, where the smell of barbecued meats and the sound of squealing children invariably fill the air. Occasionally, you will a find a few middle-aged men grunting in agony as their personal trainers count down a punishing set of sit-ups. And, on weekday evenings from June to August, anyone is welcome to kick up their heels for the free Dancing at Dusk lessons by the picnic shelter. I love running by on Wednesday evenings to watch them do the cha-cha.
From here, runners or walkers can follow the seawall either way around the park, but those on wheels must go right and follow the course counter-clockwise. Heading inland, you pass underneath a bridge and come out on the edge of the Ted and Mary Greig Rhododendron Garden, which borders the Stanley Park 18-hole Pitch & Putt golf course. The hybrid garden is in full bloom right now and the scent is heavenly.
The path weaves under and around a swath of romantic weeping willows on the eastern edge of Lost Lagoon Lake. Before the early 1920s, when the Stanley Park Causeway was constructed, this tidal flat would fill up with water, almost reaching English Bay, only to slip away at low tide. The retreating waters inspired the late West End poet Pauline Johnson to write Ode to the Lost Lagoon, which is where the present moniker came from.
Now a constant freshwater pond, the lagoon is a bird sanctuary that's home to more than 290 species. Of course, the regal white swans, descended from a pair obtained from the New South Wales Zoological Society in 1901, are by far the local favourites. A few years back, when an ornery grandfather swan was suspected of pecking two cygnets to death, the entire city (or so it seemed) collapsed into mourning.
Up ahead, you'll cross Georgia Street, the park's main entrance on the eastern side at Coal Harbour. If you veer north on Pipeline Road, you will end up in a massive, manicured garden dripping with roses and clematis. There is another detour farther along, about 500 metres past the Vancouver Rowing Club, leading to the Aquarium.
The Aquarium, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, no longer keeps killer whales in captivity (and the zoo was removed in 1990). But the belugas and sea lions do provide an interesting backdrop for the dance raves and film-fest soirees that are often held here. It's a curious party venue - a zoo of another sort - but I guess it pays the bills.
Sticking to the seawall, you continue past the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and HMCS Discovery, a naval reserve base on Deadman's Island. The city's 99-year-lease of Stanley Park from the federal government expires next year, and this small, 3.8-hectare island circled with barbed-wire fences is a prime bone of contention. The Musqueam First Nation has claimed it as an ancient burial ground, while Mayor Sam Sullivan envisions it as the home for a ferry shuttle from downtown, a maritime museum and a building to celebrate the island's aboriginal heritage. Whatever the island's fate, it still makes a very nice spot for watching float planes take off from the harbour airport and cruise ships dock at Canada Place.
The kid-friendly Waterpark, just a hop, skip and jump up the seawall, was once the site of the Lumbermen's Arch Pool, one of the park's two oceanside pools that filled up with saltwater at high tide. Health standards forced their closing. There is now a heated freshwater pool on the other side of the park at Second Beach (which we will reach in about, oh, another 4.5 kilometres). If you can't wait for a splash, the Waterpark's twirling fountains and miniature waterfalls do provide a refreshing respite for sweaty joggers on hot, sunny days.
If you're really exhausted, you can hang a left here and turn around at Beaver Lake. A few steps in and you're surrounded by deep, dense rain forest. Look around at the hundred-year-old stumps - many with trees growing right on top of them - and try to imagine what the first growth would have looked like. One of my best outdoor summer experiences was watching Boca del Lupo's roving summer theatre spectacle fly through the treetops in these parts (this summer's show runs from July 12 to 30).
But we're already halfway along the seawall, so hang in there. The best is yet to come. Somewhere in the next kilometre, as I head toward the Lion's Gate Bridge, I usually enter the "zone." My legs feel lighter, my breathing becomes less laboured and my head is held a bit higher. With sheer sandstone cliffs on one side and the wide-open water on the other, the next two kilometres go by like a breeze.
By the time you hit Siwash Rock (six kilometres along the seawall) you'll be grinning from ear to ear. According to a legend among the Squamish First Nation, this 15-metre pinnacle is the embodiment of a proud young father and his spiritual devotion to his infant child. I also like the story of the man who was found and arrested, shortly after the Second World War, while brewing tea in a nearby cave. He had apparently been living there for 17 years, simply hanging out and enjoying the vista offered by this favoured spot for nude sunbathers.
Just up ahead is Third Beach, with its neatly lined logs and breathtaking views of the Strait of Georgia. There is a concession stand here if you're starving. But if it's a cool cocktail you're after, head up the road to Sequoia Grill, a contemporary West Coast bistro in the old Teahouse building above Ferguson Point. A strawberry-basil daiquiri on the outdoor patio is a perfectly decadent and much-deserved thirst-quencher.
If you're determined to go the full distance and complete the circle without stopping, Second Beach is only one kilometre away. The path gets busier along this stretch. But if you're here at low tide, you will be greeted by the rock artists who balance temporary towers of stone on the shore.
And now we rally toward the end. By the time I return to Ceperley field, I'm usually too exhausted to even consider a dip in the pool. It's a shame, because if you're doing laps on the edge, it really does feel as if you're swimming right into the ocean. Who knows? Maybe this summer I'll start training for a biathlon. Stanley Park does inspire me to do the craziest things.
GETTING THERE
Stanley Park is on the northwestern edge of downtown Vancouver (road access from Beach Avenue and Georgia Street). On public transit, catch the "Stanley Park" bus from the corner of Hastings and Granville streets. For maps of the park, visit city.vancouver.bc.ca/Parks/parks/stanley.
WHERE TO STAY
The Westin Bayshore: 604-682-3377; www.westinbayshore.com. Great location next to the park entrance at Coal Harbour. A Starwood property; recently renovated. Rates range from $299 to $530.
Barclay House in the West End: 604-605-1351; www.barclayhouse.com. Elegantly restored B&B in a residential neighbourhood only steps from Stanley Park. Rates from $175 to $245.
The Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites: 604-688-7711; www.coasthotels.com. Apartment-sized suites with large balconies near park entrance on Denman Street at English Bay. Rates range from $179 to $429.
THINGS TO DO
Stanley Park Lawn Bowling Club: 604-681-6690; www.webturf.com/lawnbowls. Memberships are $150, special event booking is also available.
Stanley Park 18-Hole Pitch & Putt Golf Course: 604-681-8847. Fees are $11.50 for 18 holes, $3.10 for putting green. No advance bookings.
Lost Lagoon Nature House: 604-257-8544; www.stanleyparkecology.ca. Natural history information and guided walking tours provided by the Stanley Park Ecology Society.
Vancouver Aquarium: 604-659-3474; www.vanaqua.org. Daily guided shows with the beluga whales, sea lions, black-tipped reef sharks and white-sided dolphins.
Boca del Lupo Theatre Company: 604-684-2622; www.bocaldellupo.com. The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces, a free, outdoor, all-ages roving spectacular from July 12 to 30.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
Sequoia Grill: 604-669-3281; www.vancouverdine.com. West Coast Bistro with heated patio above Ferguson Point at the water's edge. Offers lunch, weekend brunch, dinner, small plates, signature cocktails and extensive wine list.
MORE INFORMATION
Tourism Vancouver: 604-683-2000; www.tourismvancouver.com.
Alexandra Gill