Stanley Park Conservation: The Story of a Forest City

Updated: 2026-06-17 | Admission prices, seasonal hours and trail closures are subject to official announcements

In my years living in Vancouver, Stanley Park is probably the place I have visited most often, yet I see a slightly different landscape every time. It is not the kind of spot where you snap a photo, check in, and leave—it sits right on the edge of downtown, 405 hectares, about a thousand acres of forest stuck directly onto the coastline, a fifth larger than New York’s Central Park. It opened in 1888 and was named after Lord Stanley, then the Governor General of Canada, and to this day it is still the backyard that Vancouverites visit in their daily lives.

But over these past couple of years, when you walk into the park again, you will clearly sense that it is “under construction.” Many people assume the park always looks the same, but in fact this forest in Stanley Park is going through a considerable overhaul, and this happens to illustrate what “conservation” actually looks like in reality—it is not just putting up a sign to protect old trees; sometimes, on the contrary, you have to cut down large amounts of dead wood. Below, from the perspective of a regular visitor, I have put together the park’s current state and why it matters so much to Vancouver, for anyone planning to come.

Dead Wood in the Forest and the Remediation Works

If you have walked the inner trails recently, you will see some sections closed off, or patches of woodland that have obviously been cleared. The reason is not development but an outbreak of a native moth called the Hemlock looper moth, which has caused large numbers of trees to die off or become dying. Dead wood is very dangerous in strong winds—during several storms in October and November 2024, fallen trees and broken branches noticeably increased, which is why the park board decided to speed up the work. This also brings to mind the major windstorm of December 2006, which destroyed about 41 hectares of woodland and even damaged the seawall, the most severe in the park’s history; for Vancouverites, a collapsing forest is not an abstract environmental issue but something that can genuinely give you a fright while you are walking on a trail.

Here is an observation I think is worth sharing: so-called “conservation” is often imagined as “leaving everything untouched,” but Stanley Park’s approach is exactly the opposite—it deliberately removes dangerous dead wood and replants with more diverse tree species, so that the whole forest becomes more resilient to pests and storms over the long term. Some environmental groups have also questioned the scale of the tree felling, and have even taken legal action, so this matter is actually contentious and still under discussion locally. If you care about it, I suggest looking directly at the city’s Stanley Park forest management page and the park board meeting minutes, where the figures are most up to date. As for the actual impact on visitors: the park as a whole remains open, but individual inner trails may be temporarily closed or rerouted due to the works, so check the official announcements before you set off, and don’t force your way past the closure lines—broken branches on the ground and unstable trees are precisely the focus of this work.

Many people’s first impression of Stanley Park is the Seawall. Let me first correct a common misconception here: the seawall section that encircles Stanley Park is about 9 kilometres, not the twenty-something kilometres often quoted—that longer figure (about 28 kilometres) refers to the whole of Vancouver’s waterfront greenway, which strings the city together and is billed as the world’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path. Stanley Park’s 9 kilometres start at Coal Harbour and finish at English Bay. Its history is also quite interesting: the seawall began construction in 1917, with a large part of it the work of stonemason James Cunningham, and the whole stretch was not officially completed until 1980. In practice, walking the full loop takes about 2 to 3 hours, and cycling takes about 1 hour. Note that the seawall’s bike path is one-way counterclockwise, with pedestrians and cyclists in separate lanes—don’t go against the flow; locals take this quite seriously.

How to Get There, What It Costs, Who It Suits

Stanley Park is right at the northwest corner of downtown, and getting there is actually quite simple; the key thing is that the park is very large, so you may not be able to cover it all on foot alone. Cycling is the most Vancouver way to do it—riding in from downtown along the seawall is fast, and the park is good for cycling too; there are plenty of rental shops downtown and around Denman Street, with rates depending on the bike model and the number of hours, so it’s best to confirm the day’s prices on site or on the official website. If you walk, it’s about a 20-minute stroll from West Georgia Street to the park entrance, passing the sea views around Coal Harbour along the way. To take public transit, you can take TransLink bus routes such as the 19 to the edge of the park, then walk or rent a bike in; frequencies and routes are subject to TransLink’s official information.

The park’s signature Stanley Park Horse-Drawn Tours are still running, roughly from late February to mid-December in 2026, with a loop of about one hour. Adult tickets are split into low and peak season: in the low season of March to April and mid-October to mid-December, it’s about 65 to 70 Canadian dollars per person, and in the peak season of May to mid-October it’s about 88 Canadian dollars (tax included, priced in Canadian dollars); please refer to the operator’s official website for exact amounts and schedules. If you are bringing elderly relatives or children, this is a fairly relaxed option. On the cost side, entering the park itself is free; if you drive, parking inside the park is paid, and the rates and time slots are subject to change, so check the on-site pay machines and the city’s announcements; bike rentals and horse-drawn tours are each charged as above. Overall, this is a place where you can “spend a whole day without spending money”—just walking the seawall, looking at the sea and the old trees is well worth it. It suits people who love walking, cycling, and getting close to a large stretch of old-growth forest within the city; families who want to leisurely take in the sea views are a good fit too; if you only want to take a few photos and leave, you may find it “too big to finish,” in which case focus on the western seawall section looking at Lions Gate Bridge and Prospect Point, which offers the best value.

Stanley Park is right next to downtown, making it easy to combine with other itineraries. Heading along the seawall toward the city centre, you reach the area around Coal Harbour, Canada Place, and Gastown; after exploring the park, walking back into the city for dinner along the way is very convenient. The park itself also has fixed sights such as the totem poles and the Prospect Point lookout; I’d suggest allowing half a day to a day, and don’t be greedy by trying to walk the entire forest in one go. To plan your other Vancouver itineraries together, you can refer to our Vancouver Travel Guide, or look at the more complete roundup of Canada attractions before deciding how to put it all together.

Finally, a question I’m often asked: is it still worth going to Stanley Park now, and will the forest remediation be a real downer? My answer is that it’s worth it. The remediation works mainly affect some of the inner trails; the seawall, the sea views, the horse-drawn tours, and the main lookouts are basically running as usual, and at most you’ll see some closed sections or freshly cleared woodland—treat it as a live look at “how a city takes care of its own forest,” which is actually quite interesting. The only homework to do is to check before you set off whether there are any temporary closure announcements from the authorities.