Trek Vancouver — Stanley Park, Canada

The Stanley Park Seawall: Coal Harbour to English Bay on Foot

A flat, ten-kilometre loop around the edge of Vancouver's great forest park, from the marinas of Coal Harbour past totem poles, a lighthouse, the Lions Gate Bridge and a lone sea stack, to the sunset beaches of English Bay.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 10 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Year-round; best May–September, when the beaches are staffed and the evenings run long

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Stanley Park is 405 hectares of mostly second-growth rainforest on the tip of the downtown peninsula, a little larger than New York’s Central Park, and the seawall is the ribbon of stone that wraps around it. Masons and relief workers built it in stages over more than half a century, from 1914 until the last block was tapped into place in 1971, to stop ship wakes and storms from eating the shoreline. The result is the best walk in the city: roughly nine kilometres of the park’s edge with the water on one side, cliffs and cedars on the other, and almost no climbing at all.

Walk it counterclockwise, starting from Coal Harbour, and the views come in the right order. You get the downtown skyline and the floatplanes first, then the North Shore mountains across the harbour, then the Lions Gate Bridge overhead, and finally the open water of English Bay with the sun dropping behind it. It is the same direction the cyclists ride, so you are never walking into the flow of bikes.

Most people stroll it in three to four hours with stops. There is no need to rush: every beach, viewpoint and bench on the way is a reason to sit down.

Getting there. Walk west along the Coal Harbour waterfront from Canada Place or Burrard Station; the seawall enters the park by the Vancouver Rowing Club at the foot of West Georgia Street. TransLink bus 19 ends at the Stanley Park loop just inside the park. Driving is possible, but all parking inside Stanley Park is pay parking, and the lots near the beaches fill on sunny weekends.

Permits & tickets. None. The park and the seawall are free and open to everyone. Only the attractions inside it, such as the Vancouver Aquarium, charge admission.

Good to know:

The seawall has separate lanes: walkers stay on the water side, bikes and skates on the inside lane, and wheels travel one way, counterclockwise.
The stretch between Prospect Point and Third Beach runs beneath steep cliffs and is closed from time to time for slope work or after storms, with a signed detour through the park. Check the Vancouver Park Board’s closure notices before you go.
Washrooms and food concessions are clustered at Brockton Point, Lumberman’s Arch, Third Beach and Second Beach; the stretch around Siwash Rock has nothing.
Feeding wildlife is not allowed anywhere in the park, however insistent the raccoons and geese are.

Tips & Insights for this route Planning this route? Read our practical tips before you go — 8 tips. Read the tips

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day 1 Hardest dayAround the park, counterclockwise

Distance10 kmAscentNot recordedDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

Around the park, counterclockwise

Vancouver Rowing Club, Coal Harbour → English Bay Beach 10 km

Navigate this day Print day

From the Coal Harbour marinas around Brockton Point, under the Lions Gate Bridge, past Siwash Rock and along the beaches to English Bay.

Segments

Coal Harbour to Brockton Point 2.8 km Map

Vancouver Rowing Club → Brockton Point Lighthouse

Paved seawall path

The seawall leaves the rowing club and follows the harbour past moored yachts and the small wooded islet of Deadman's Island, with the downtown towers and the floatplane terminal across the water. At Brockton Point, turn inland briefly to the collection of totem poles, carved in British Columbia, first brought to the park in the 1920s and moved to this spot in 1962; several of them now replicas with the originals kept in museums. Back on the wall you pass the 9 O'Clock Gun and reach the small lighthouse at the park's easternmost tip. About 50 minutes.

About this place

Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carved totem poles made in British Columbia. Like the rest of Stanley Park coastline, Brockton Point is lined by the Vancouver Seawall.
Read more on Wikipedia
Girl in a Wetsuit and Lumberman's Arch 1.7 km Map

Brockton Point Lighthouse → Lumberman's Arch

Paved seawall path

Rounding the point, the view swings north to the North Shore mountains and the port cranes. Look out for Girl in a Wetsuit, a 1972 life-size bronze by Elek Imredy sitting on a rock just offshore, often mistaken for a copy of Copenhagen's Little Mermaid (the sculptor deliberately made her a scuba diver instead). The big meadow at Lumberman's Arch marks the site of Xwáýxway, a large Squamish village that stood here before the park was created. About 25 minutes.

About this place

Girl in a Wetsuit is a life-size 1972 bronze sculpture by Elek Imredy of a woman in a wetsuit, located on a rock in the water along the north side of Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Bobanny · Public domain
Under the Lions Gate Bridge 1.6 km Map

Lumberman's Arch → Below Prospect Point

Paved seawall path below cliffs

The wall narrows along the First Narrows, where ships squeeze in and out of the harbour close enough to read their names. You walk directly beneath the Lions Gate Bridge, a 1938 suspension bridge with a 473-metre main span and towers 111 metres high. Prospect Point, the park's northern tip, sits on the cliff above you; a steep trail climbs to its lookout and café if you want the view from the top. About 25 minutes.

About this place

The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipalities of the District of North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and West Vancouver. The term "Lions Gate" refers to the Lions, a pair of mountain peaks north of Vancouver. Northbound traffic on the bridge heads in their general direction. A pair of cast concrete lions, designed by sculptor Charles Marega, were placed on either side of the south approach to the bridge in January 1939.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Steve Voght from Seattle, WA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Siwash Rock 1.4 km Map

Below Prospect Point → Siwash Rock

Paved seawall path below cliffs

Now facing the open water of English Bay, the wall runs under the park's wildest cliffs to Siwash Rock, a 15 to 18 metre basalt sea stack standing alone just off the path, the only one of its kind around Vancouver. In Squamish oral history it is Slhx̱i7lsh, a man transformed into stone. A plaque nearby honours James Cunningham, the stonemason who devoted decades to building the seawall and whose ashes were scattered here. This is the quietest stretch of the loop. About 20 minutes.

About this place

Siwash Rock is a rock outcropping in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada's Stanley Park. A legend among the Indigenous Squamish people surrounds the rock. It is between 15 and 18 metres tall. It became known to mariners as Nine Pin Rock for its resemblance to a bowling pin.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Third Beach 1.3 km Map

Siwash Rock → Third Beach

Paved seawall path

The cliffs drop away and the seawall reaches Third Beach at Ferguson Point, a crescent of sand backed by tall trees and lined with driftwood logs. It faces due west, which makes it the park's favourite sunset beach, and in summer it has lifeguards, washrooms and a concession. About 20 minutes, plus as long as you want on a log.

About this place

Third Beach is located at Ferguson Point in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Eyewall · CC BY-SA 3.0
Second Beach to English Bay 1.2 km Map

Third Beach → English Bay Beach

Paved seawall path

The last stretch passes Second Beach, with its playground and the large outdoor pool first built in 1932, then leaves the park and runs along the West End's apartment towers to English Bay Beach at the foot of Denman Street. Restaurants, ice cream and buses back downtown are all a block away. If you still have energy, the 1.75-kilometre path around Lost Lagoon, just inland, is an easy add-on for birdwatchers. About 20 minutes.

About this place

Second Beach is located at Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. The beach features a pool, which was first completed in 1932.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: mattmangum · CC BY 2.0