Lighthouse Park – West Vancouver

One of Vancouver’s coastal gems is Lighthouse Park located in a residential area in West Vancouver. The park is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Vancouver as it is a National Historic Site of Canada. Located fairly close to downtown Vancouver, this well-maintained park open year-round throughout all four seasons is a perfect sunrise and sunset location. The park has enough trails to exercise and a fairly quick access to the lighthouse or beach from the parking lot. Lighthouse Park is well-known for its 18 m tall Point Atkinson Lighthouse, located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, which is the perfect subject for many beautiful photography composition.

Time (Round-Trip): 2 hrs
Distance (Round-Trip): Up to 6 km
Difficulty: Easy
Season: Year-Round
Elevation Gain: Minimal
Scenery: ★★★☆☆
Camping: No
From Vancouver: 40 minutes
Public Transit: Yes
Dog Friendly: Yes (on-leash)

The trails within Lighthouse Park are all relatively short and appeal to people of varying fitness levels. Some of the trails to reach the coast line are slightly challenging and wearing good walking shoes or hiking boots is highly recommended. The Point Atkinson Lighthouse is situated only 900 metres from the parking area and takes only 10 minutes to reach, making this scenic location easily accessible. A map of the trails can be found here. The lighthouse itself is located on a restricted area of the park, although visitors may admire the monument from wither the west or east beach. Birds such as diving cormorants and soaring eagles often frequent the area, allowing for great bird watching opportunities.

The 75 hectares (182 acres) park made up of mostly virgin rainforest was originally known as Point Atkinson and was founded in 1792 after being discovered by Captain George Vancouver aboard the Discovery, he consequently was the one who named the area. The first lighthouse was resurrected in 1874 as a gift from the Federal Government of Canada in exchange for British Columbia agreeing to join Canada in 1871. It was originally built by Arthur Finney of Nanaimo, and was constructed of wood. The surrounding 182 acres of forest set aside in 1881 became what we call Lighthouse Park in present day.

The current Point Atkinson Lighthouse that visitors to the park can observe was built in 1912. During World War 2 (1939-1945) the lighthouse was used for surveillance of the Burrard Inlet for enemy submarines and ships. It was respectively equipped with gun emplacements and search lights along with facilities for The Department of National Defence which included a bunkhouse, Officer's mess hall, dining hall and a guard hut. In 1994 the area was declared a National Historic Site of Canada. Now maintained and operated by the District of West Vancouver, visitors are permitted from 7:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m daily.

Visitors to this park can enjoy up to 6 km of various beginner level hiking trails accompanied by their dogs, or have lunch along the rocks of the beach near the lighthouse. There are various picnic benches scattered throughout the trails of the park, although none located near the beach and the lighthouse itself. The park is a biologically rich and unique resource and is an example of a remaining old growth coastal forest in the Lower Mainland. The lighthouse and light station grounds at Point Atkinson are a national historic site and one of the most photographed and recognizable landmarks in the entire Lower Mainland. The waters around Lighthouse Park is a Rockfish Protection Area.