Hiking in Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver
If you want an easy hike, check out the myriad of trails crisscrossing Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. The park is only about 75 hectares in size but it packs a lot into that acreage.
A visit in very short order leaves you feeling far removed from a big city. Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver is peaceful, quiet and a balm for the soul.
Nature lovers will love the place. Looking for a taste of old growth rainforest? This is a great park to visit. There are massive Douglas fir, western hemlock and western red cedar trees in here along with lots of moss, lichens and woodland flowers.
Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver owes its existence to an 1881 act
In 1881 the Federal Government set aside the 75-hectare park as a lighthouse reserve. This act saved the spectacular strand of old growth forest from logging.
Today the municipality of West Vancouver leases the land for a whopping $1/ year. Many of the trees in the park are over 500 years old, and the sheer size of them is incredible.
Some of the Douglas Firs reach up to 200 feet in the sky. Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver has a storied history, including serving as a military defense base during WWII.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
My favourite trail in Lighthouse Park
There are roughly ten kilometres of trails with most taking you through the forest while some, including the Juniper Point Trail, take you right to the water’s edge. I love this one in particular early in the morning when no one is around.
Why you’ll want to visit Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver
The real purpose of our outing wasn’t a hike but to get some photographs at sunset.
My niece has dreams of winning an Ipad Mini but she needed a photograph from the north shore of Vancouver with the caption – the right time at the right place.
I figured the magic hour around sunset might give her a chance to get a winning shot.
We were late getting to Lighthouse Park. The light was already fading in the woods – and these woods are dark at the best of times. But once we hit the coast it was still bright and sunny. It was such a warm, beautiful night that we weren’t alone; a group of twenty somethings were enjoying sundowners on the rocks.
A lot of people come to the park to see the lighthouse, located at the point where Burrard Inlet meets Howe Sound. I knew there was no way we could get to it before dark set in.
But a few years ago I took the two hour Sewells Sea Safari and had a chance to get some shots of the lighthouse from the water.
There wasn’t a chance the time I was in my kayak as I was doing my best just to stay upright as the waters around the point can get really gnarly, really fast with wild currents.
If you’re thinking about cliff jumping here, never do it at the point.
More information about Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver
Time to go: Visit Lighthouse Park during daylight hours as the trails would be difficult to negotiate in the dark.
Camping: There is no overnight camping.
Dogs: Dogs are allowed off leash but must be under voice control.
Parking: As of February 2024, you have to pay for parking from 7 AM – 10 PM, 7 days a week. Rates start at $3.75 per hour.
Accessibility: Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver is also very accessible from downtown Vancouver via public transit. You’ll just have to walk a short distance along a residential road in from Marine Drive.
Maps: Click to get a downloadable copy of a map of the hiking trails.
Further reading on things to do in British Columbia
- 21 of the Best Hikes in BC to Add to Your Bucket List
- 5 Great Sea Kayaking Adventures in BC
- A Hike on the Whyte Lake Trail in West Vancouver
- Bike or Drive BC’s Gorgeous Sea to Sky Highway
- A Guide to Cycling the Gulf Islands in BC
Click on the photo to bookmark to your Pinterest boards.
A beautiful photo series, Leigh. I love lighthouses, and that’s a great shot. I spent a few days in Vancouver in 2011, and it was delightful in every way, so I really want to get back there in the future and explore further afield. This lighthouse hike is now on the list, so thanks for the post.
All the best to your niece with her photo venture. (Nice for me to see the Aussies, if only in silhouette!)
@Andrew This is definitely one of the lighthouses worth visiting if you go to Vancouver. It’s an easy ride by public transit from downtown as well – and interesting to see from the water.
I love Lighthouse Park. Cannot recommend walking and lingering there enough.
Translink.ca offers super convenient bus service to the park from downtown Vancouver. Via a pleasant route too. And for those driving, it’s just off the route to Whistler.
@Don I miss my easy access to the park. I used to visit it weekly when I lived in West Vancouver. Good point about the transit.
This place offers an incredible views. Love the sky!
@Agness Lighthouse Park is a glorious part of the north shore to explore – especially at sunrise and sunset.
Your shots are beautiful, Leigh. Love those sky colors. I hope you niece got her shot, and wins the contest! I’ll be in Vancouver in June before heading to Nova Scotia. I’ll have to try and get to this park.
@Nancie I think it’s worth the trip over to the north shore to see it.
What a beautiful park! I admit I only know Stanley park in Vancouver so I love seeing Lighthouse Park. There’s something about this coast that reminds me of Northern California. Those sunset shots are stunning and I hope she got some great ones too. Good luck to your niece and I hope she wins.
@Mary I agree that there is a resemblance to northern California. Love the park for its fantastic sunsets & sunrises as it’s out on a peninsula so you can get both. I’m hoping my niece wins too.
What a beautiful hike! I would love to visit the lighthouse and sit on the rocks watching sail boats. Sounds like a perfect and peaceful day!
@Debbie With temperatures approaching summertime highs the idea of sitting on a rock beside the ocean and watching sailboats for hours is indeed very appealing.
I hadn’t heard of Lighthouse Park before but it looks a beautiful place for a hike. I need to get my kids back out there to see the trees – Emma had just turned 4 the last time that we were in Vancouver and it was only for a day so she doesn’t remember much of it. The sunset photos are incredibly beautiful – if your niece’s are anything like yours then she should stand a good chance of winning!
@Lisa Stanley Park has some real beauties as far as trees go but I have always enjoyed Lighthouse Park because it’s easy to get around and I would say more ruggedly beautiful than Stanley Park. Emma I’m sure would love the place.
Love the sunset pics… and lighthouses? There’s something completely charming, old-school, and just adorable about them.
@Jill It never ceases to amaze me the array of colours you can get in a sunset photo.
beautiful. we need to explore the pacific northwest more.
@Eileen I recommend exploring in the good weather when you can get out and enjoy a picnic on the rocks.
I love the reds in that last shot. The sunsets are impressive too.
Hope your niece wins — Lighthouse Park looks like the right place at the right time.
@Marcia Hopefully all the positive thoughts of my readers will put an Ipad Mini in mu niece’s hands. I’d be very happy if she developed a love for photography as it increases your sensitivity to your surroundings.
I really like the four black/yellow sunset photo set, especially the one with Australians. Hope your niece will win the iPad Mini 🙂
@Salika I like the silhouetted Aussies too – not perfect but they weren’t the most cooperative subjects – probably because they didn’t know they were being photographed.
I love the Arbutus tree. I have only seen one other and it was in front of an iconic hotel in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Fingers crossed for the competition.
@Jan The arbutus trees have a very narrow range of where they can grow. They are also incredibly hard to transplant as they have one very long tap root. I love the feel of the bark and the look of the tree.
Looks like a very pretty hike. The rocky shore, pine trees, moss, forest flowers, the lighthouses… looks like Norway, it does. 🙂
@Sophie I think that’s why Norway has so much appeal to me. Hoping to get there and bike one summer – soon.
Good luck to your niece. She definitely has a great photographer mentor to help her with the contest.
@Ted Thanks for that nice comment – though I still feel like I have SO much more to learn!!!
I was there last Saturday (4th May) as well hiking most of the trails – I was geo caching. Not much luck in finding the caches – but did cover a lot of area at Lighthouse Park
@Marty There is enough undergrowth that I can well imagine the geocaching is extremely difficult. It would be like treasure hunting in the rainforest.
The red and white sails on the boat nicely complement the lighthouse colors. good luck to your niece on winning the iPad mini. That terrific sunset view looks like a reward all in itself for the hike through the woods.
@Michele I’ve been to the same rock on numerous times though mostly at sunrise. I think it’s a particularly pretty area to visit in the Vancouver area.
Aww..how nice of you to spend such time with you niece. I’ll drop everything for my niece. Did she get an ipad winning shot? I really really hope she did!
@Marisol I hope she got the winning shot. The takeaway lesson was composition – something I’m still working on too.
Aha! Never heard of that part of Vancouver before! Will have to check it out the next time I’m there.
@Dick Lighthouse Park is well worth the visit. The woods in there always feel so peaceful.
So glad you enjoyed your walk through Lighthouse Park! (right in our backyard, almost :-). West Vancouver, where we live, has many wonderful forest trails, but you found one of the most delightful spots.
@SandInMySuitcase I used to stop in at Lighthouse Park every Monday AM when there was not a soul around – after dropping my husband downtown for early AM flights – as we too lived in West Van for almost 10 years.