VANCOUVER - Vancouver and Victoria - page 69

Sports and Recreation
PARKS
Stanley Park
Vancouverisnotaparticularlygoodcitytoexploreonfoot,butitdoeshaveoneredeeming
factor for foot travelers— Stanley Park, an urban oasis crisscrossed with hiking trails
and encircled by a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) promenade that hugs the shoreline. Along the
way are many points of interest, benches, and interpretive plaques pointing out historical
events. Allow three hours for the entire circuit. The promenade can be walked in either
direction, but those on bikes and skates must travel counterclockwise. It is always packed,
especially in late afternoon and on weekends.
Away from the Seawall Promenade, you'll find most trails a lot less busy. A good al-
ternativetoexploringonelongsectionofthepromenadeistoascendthestepsimmediately
northofLionsGateBridgetoProspectPoint(andmaybestopforasnackatthecafé),then
continue west along the Merilees Trail, which follows the top of the cliff band to Third
Beach. Along the way, an old lookout point affords excellent views of Siwash Rock and
the Strait of Georgia.
The isthmus of land linking the park to the rest of the downtown peninsula is less than
1 kilometer (0.6 mile) wide, but it's mostly taken up by Lost Lagoon. A 1.5-kilometer
(0.9-mile) trail (30 minutes round-trip) encircles this bird-filled body of water. In the heart
of the park is Beaver Lake, a small body of water that is alive with birds throughout sum-
mer. Trails lead into this lake from all directions, and it can easily be walked around in 20
minutes.
Paciic Spirit Regional Park
On the Vancouver peninsula, the 762-hectare (1,880-acre) Pacific Spirit Regional Park
offers 35 kilometers (22 miles) of hiking trails through a forested environment similar to
that which greeted the first European settlers more than 200 years ago. A good starting
point is the Park Centre (16th Ave. W., west of Blanca St., 604/224-5739, 8am-4pm
Mon.-Fri.), which has a supply of trail maps. The entire park is crisscrossed with trails, so
although getting seriously lost is impossible, taking the wrong trail and ending up away
from your intended destination is easy. One good trailhead is opposite a residential area
in the east of the park, at the junction of Imperial Road and King Edward Avenue. From
this point, the Imperial Trail heads west through a forest of red cedar and fir, crosses Sal-