I cannot get enough of rocky point park. It's so beautiful and peaceful. Even though it's small…read morewith some trails, it's one of those parks that's really good to come to for some wellness and enjoyment

Part One We arrived and parked within the main parking lot…read moredirectly in front of the area by the Pier, just before 9:30 am yesterday. A first-time experience for my lady and I to the Park - the daughter had been there a couple of times before, but a good while ago. Daughter and I had plans to walk the Park's walkaways and trails, and Mom to stay behind, to take in the views near the pier and surrounding areas, waterfowl activities, and generally to enjoy her time outside in the warm sunshine and fresh air of the beautiful morning we had on the go. A visit to the 'Recreational Pier' was first on the walking agenda. The walk out on the structure offered views of the pier itself (lined from one end to the other, with colourful flowered-planters, and benches to sit and take in sights), and views of the water and mudflats below (with lots of waterfowl resting and feeding), several boats, the boat launching area, and full extent views of both sides of Burrard Inlet as seen at this location. A splendid start to our morning walks. Second on the walking agenda was the walkway along the shoreline, to the start of the 'Shoreline Trail'. We did not make any stop in between -- at the 'Playgrounds', or picnic lunching areas -- just caught some rather distant views, we had forested-trails on our minds. The walkway itself though, offered a very plesant, well-treed walk, with several good viewing spots of the Inlet along the route. We walked with no stops other than enough time along the way to view, catch, and capture some of the natural sights. Part Two Walking the 'Shoreline Trail'. We continued our walk, and when we reached the entrance(s) to the 'Shoreline Trail' we headed left into the route closest to the actual shoreline. This took us into a well-groomed dirt, walking only trail. The route to the right was a paved roadway, and much more popular with family groups, and such. The route taken was definitely 'the' right one for us, and we sure enjoyed it. Heavily-forested, mostly flat, with only a couple of 'stair walks' up slopes, some interesting boardwalks over wet areas, and several lookout spots to stand or sit, and view the sights of the inlet along the way. We walked as far as a smaller trail off the main trail that took us inland, up and into the 'Noons Creek Hatchery' site. After an interesting stop and visit there (review forthcomcoming), we returned to the main trail, and walked back to Rock Point. Next on the walking agenda -- Part Three - walking to the end of 'Shoreline Trail' (soon, I hope!).

I can't believe we have such an amazingly beautiful spot like this in Greater Vancouver's backyard!…read moreIt's so peaceful, so gorgeous. Lots of benches to sit and talk or meditate. Amazing for photos.

Pitt Lake is truly a beautiful place only an hours drive from downtown Vancouver. I was moved by…read morethe mountain vista, the vast wetlands, and the gorgeous lake. In addition, in our short time up there we saw two swans, six herons, four falcons, two eagles, and many other feathered creatures I have no idea what their names are. This place is for the birds and bird lovers. As Louise G. said you can rent canoes here, but be careful of the currents in the narrows. If you do rent a boat make sure to ask the very helpful Katzie Development Corporation staff members how to get to the waterfalls and more private beaches. They will also have information on how to rent the cute little cabins you can see from the boat launch. There is a really well maintained dyke with a trail which cross the south side of the lake. So bring your walking shoes or a bike and start exploring.

It's a nice park but there is 1 public bathroom in the entire deep cove area. The women's bathroom…read morehas 4 stalls, 2 of which were out of service by 3pm. They get so disgusting, no toilet paper and clogged. Makes coming to this area inconvenient.

Nice small sloped park on a hill that also doubles as a parking lot and staging area for the nearby…read moreQuarry Rock hike. Parking is available but fills up very quickly on nice days. Once the lot is full, there is very little (if any) street parking anywhere in the vicinity. I was told to go very early (0730) to guarantee a spot, and even at that point the lot was over half full. The park itself is basically one giant sloped area. There is a picnic gazebo, a flat outdoor area, and a kids' playground. Then there is the nice beautiful view of the water and surrounding area. Facilities are available just a few minutes S by the kayak club. Not sure if I'd come here just for the park, but it is worth checking out if one is already here for Quarry Rock.

Crescent Beach in South Surrey is one of my favorite places to capture quiet sunsets. The soft pink…read moreand blue hues reflect over the calm water, creating a peaceful and timeless mood. Each visit feels different -- sometimes serene, sometimes full of color and light. It's the kind of place where you can breathe, slow down, and simply watch the day fade into stillness. my fine-art landscapes on Instagram: @aaronshaphoto #SouthSurrey #CrescentBeach #VancouverSunset #AaronShaPhoto #FineArtPhotography #BCCoast

This little beach off the beaten path is a local gem. If you're from Alberta, think White Rock =…read moreBanff, Crescent Beach = Jasper. If you're not from Alberta, that analogy might not resonate with you. Crescent beach is like a locals only type of beach. There's a volleyball area, a Sandy cove for swimming, public restrooms, and a long walkway along the beach you can walk on. There are benches, logs and giant rocks for sitting and sun bathing or to just enjoy the sound of the water. I grabbed sushi from nearby sushi spot Hanaya Japanese restaurant and got their lunch special. Took my food "to-go" and headed on down to Crescent beach. There is free parking along residential streets but you can also park close to the public washrooms area next to the Crescent Beach swimming club (which is for members only). Although there are not many food or drink places on the beach, there is a little sail boat place where you can book a tour on a sailboat and head out onto the water. There is a dock for fishing too and the water is super clean. Lifeguards are also on patrol at this beach which is an amazing safety feature to have as well. I would definitely recommend this beach if you want something a little more low key, a little quieter, somewhere to meditate perhaps or have a nice lunch.

Buntzen Lake, located in the Village of Anmore near Belcarra Regional Park, is named after Johannes…read moreBuntzen, the first general manager of BC Electric Company, predecessor to BC Hydro. The lake is a BC Hydro reservoir and the lake and surrounding area is maintained by BC Hydro. There are beaches and many hiking trails, making the Buntzen Lake recreation area a very popular destination. Due to its popularity, a parking pass is needed from mid-May to Labour Day in September. The parking passes are free, but it can be extremely difficult to get one. However, in the summer, from the end of April to Labour Day, the #179 bus departs from Coquitlam Central Station (Bay 12) every half an hour and goes to Buntzen Lake, but only on weekends and holidays. (It would be so nice if there was year round transit, or at least from March to October, and if during the summer, it wasn't limited to only weekends and holidays.) Due to the limited parking, it's actually far easier to bus there in the summer instead of driving, and you can park for $3, all day, at Coquitlam Central Station. Just take transit! The Buntzen Lake Loop is 10km and approximately three hours, and there is a beach area with picnic tables and clean outhouses along the route. I started a transit accessible hiking group in the summer of 2023, and I went hiking at Buntzen Lake for the first time in May 2024. Due to transit only being available in the summer months on weekends and holidays, I am limited as to when I can go, and so far I have gone seven times -- twice in 2024, twice in 2025, and three times this year. Apparently people go counter-clockwise around the lake, but the first time we went, none of us knew where exactly the start of the trail was located, and we ended up going clockwise. However, we all enjoyed hiking the trail clockwise, so we always go clockwise, which has its benefits: the hardest part is at the beginning, not the end; the west side is more exposed so it's better to do the east side, which has more tree canopy, last, when the sun is hotter; the beach, where we stop for lunch, is at the two hour mark, instead of one hour; and we don't get caught up in other groups of hikers, since everyone is going in the opposite direction. The first six times I have gone to Buntzen Lake, we have done the Buntzen Lake Loop. However, this last time, which was August 22, 2026, we tried the Lakeview Trail. The Lakeview Trail parallels the west side of the Buntzen Lake Loop Trail, and while the trail isn't terribly difficult, it is slightly more difficult and longer than the west side of the Buntzen Lake Loop Trail, and because we were taking our time exploring a new trail, it took us three, instead of two hours, to get to the beach area, making our total hiking time four hours. It was such a nice hike and far less busy than the Buntzen Lake Loop Trail. I can't wait to do this hike again next summer! There are so many other trails in the Buntzen Lake recreation area, such as the Diez Vistas Trail which is very popular, but I need to work my way up to that. [Yelp collections: Hiking]

Gorgeous and peaceful lake. The perimeter around the lake has a 3.5 hour easier moderate trail that…read moreis mostly shaded. Toilets at the start (main beach/waterside area) and at the midway point (outhouse at small beach). Thr main beach area has an enclosed off leash area for dogs, ehoch also has a waterside section. There is a doggie washing station, which is very convenient. The good and bad part about this place is the required reserved parking. The good part is that you know that you will have a parking spot. The bad part is that it's required and they won't let you into the area without it. It was free but had a time restriction.

Belcarra Regional Park (now re-named to acknowledge the Tsleil-Waututh peoples*) is a 1,100-hectare…read moreregional park. It is an extremely popular regional park with beaches, picnic areas, a lake, and numerous hiking trails of various difficulty levels. There is something for everyone at the park, including decent washrooms. The various trails within the park are: Bedwell Bay Trail, Woodhaven Swamp Loop Trail and Woodhaven Trail, Sasamat Lake Loop Trail, Springboard Trail, Admiralty Point Trail, Jug Island Beach Trail, Sugar Mountain Trail, and Buntzen Ridge Trail (and the nearby Buntzen Lake and Diez Vistas trails). Until recently, I had only hiked the Jug Island and Admiralty Point trails (both excellent, easy to intermediate hikes), and on Sunday I had planned to hike around the Woodhaven Swamp Loop, continue along the Woodhaven Trail to Sasamat Lake, and around the lake with my hiking group. Unfortunately due to a recent windstorm, the Woodhaven Trail leading to Sasamat Lake was closed, but we still enjoyed the lovely hike along the Springboard Trail and around the swamp. It was a very easy hike (pretty much a walk), but the trails were beautiful, and being the off-season, very peaceful. I love Belcarra Regional Park and would like to eventually hike all the trails, as well as re-hike the ones I have already done. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to get there by transit, although it is technically possible -- the #182 bus runs from Moody Centre Station to the park, but it only runs once an hour. During the summer months, the #150 runs to White Pine Beach and the #179 runs to Buntzen Lake (I don't recall if it is once an hour or every half an hour). So because transit is so lousy, most people drive, but parking is very limited -- good luck finding parking after 8am on a weekend during the non-winter months! IDEA: to alleviate the parking issue, have transit run more than once an hour! Despite the horrible transit to the park, at least it is technically possible to get there by bus, and with my hiking group (which focuses on transit accessible hikes), I will definitely be going back to Belcarra. *I cannot include the name in my review as Yelp does not recognize Indigenous script. [Yelp collections: Hiking; Parks and Gardens]

This review is about Admiralty Point Park. For return 6km…read morehike, 2 hours to Burns point. Some sections follow rocky shoreline, beautiful view of Burrard inlet. There are some wooden bridges over creek and well maintained trail. Easy hike and good for family hike. You can find small beaches with clear water. I'm sure I will be back in spring time with kayak.

Absolutely in love with this place. So serene!!!! Sasamat Lake has some of the most peaceful views…read more Loved the easy hike around the lake as well as the bridge on the water. Pretty shady for most of the trail and there are also some stairs. Super nice beach at the beginning of the trail head near the parking lot too! Cannot wait to come back, definitely worth visiting.

I was so happy and excited to find this hidden gem spot. My only regret was I didn't bring a…read morebathing suits. At 8:30am, the first parking was full. But please be patient. Other parkings might have spots and better than street parking. Or after 3pm, you can find parking spots easily. No life guard is working. No motor sports neither. But paddle boat is ok to use. Two beaches with clear water which is very warm. A concession store opens maybe around 10am and they serves hot food like fish and chips and burgers. That's very convenient for swimmers or cyclists. My impression for those beaches were for family or a group. If you walked into the trail, you will find a small groud(beach) for 1-3 people. I preferred to stay there for chil...

Just a beautiful spot. Best time to visit is the "golden hour". Magical light. Just a great place…read moreto visit.

The seawalk trail is a great short hike with lots of viewpoints along the way to spot starfish or…read morelook out into the ocean for sea animals or ships. There's quite a few roots and there are short sections of wooden boardwalk between collingwood beach and pebble beach. Very little parking with only about 4-5 spots and people pull their cars along the road when full. The road leading to the lighthouse is also quite narrow and seems to only fit one car at a time. If you're doing the seawalk trail, there's 4-5 spots to park by cape roger Curtis lighthouse, pebble beach, and collingwood beach with the only outhouse by pebble beach. The lighthouse was much smaller than expected!

Compared to most of the other nearby beaches, I found Barnet Marine Park to be dark, damp, and more…read morethan a bit depressing. Tip: The overall size of this beach is fairly small when compared to that of most of the other beaches in the area, especially Stanley Park and Kits. The parking for this place is a fair distance away and up the hill, across from the main railway.  The trails you'll find here aren't any different than those found in other nearby parks, so all-told this is probably a place best left for those who live nearby.

This is quite a nice park, lots of people barbecuing, swimming (though I personally wouldn't)…read moreflying kites or just chilling. There is a trail for walking as well, I'm not sure how far it goes, I was on my bike and it kinda ended and continued off trail and was pretty narrow. They did fix/change the entrance as I haven't been here for a while. They have restrooms here as well. There is a small parking lot at the entrance, not sure if it is free but I think it is. It can get a little busy in the summer and on weekends/holidays........