Vanier Park (FRK)

Situated at the mouth of False Creek, Vanier Park is an expansive park that boasts views of downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park, and the north shore mountains. With large open fields, a wide pathway connected to the Seawall, tranquil ponds, a public boat launch, and beach access, this spot is great for experiencing Vancouver’s waterfront.

The Vancouver Museum and Planetarium, Maritime Museum, and the City of Vancouver Archives are all located within the park, which was officially opened in 1967 and named after the Governor General of Canada at the time, George Vanier.

Also located within Vanier Park, Vancouver Ocean Sports is a not-for-profit society that offers membership for access to a variety of paddling programs and equipment, as well as providing boat storage. In addition to waterfront access, Vanier Park is home to a BMX bike park located south of the Burrard Civic Marina. It features dirt ramps, jumps, and gaps.

AMENITIES:
• On the Seawall system
• Public washrooms
• False Creek Ferries access (Maritime Museum Ferry Dock)
• Water fountain
• Vancouver Ocean Sports facilities and rentals
• BMX bike park

FIRST NATIONS PLACENAMES:
Sen?á?w (Squamish) or s?a?q? (Musqueam)

FIRST NATIONS HISTORY:
Every year, families from upper Squamish villages would travel down to Senákw, where the lands and waters were ideal for fishing, hunting, and harvesting traditional resources. There was an abundance of elk, beaver, deer, salmon, duck, cedar, and more. The people built longhouses and brought neighbouring tribes together for potlatches. Senákw was an important hub for trade, commerce, social relationships, and cultural practices. It was also one of the major trading locations for the whole of Coast Salish territory.

You can also find a 100 foot totem pole here that was carved by Kwakwaka’wakw Chief Mungo Martin for British Columbia’s centennial in 1958.

First Nations Information From:
https://senakw.com/history

Get directions to this beach

COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests at least 95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on October 16th, 2022. Fraser Riverkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on October 17th, 2022 at 8:20 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Fraser Riverkeeper samples water quality weekly during the summer months from May-October and every other week during the winter months from November-April.

Fraser Riverkeeper follows the Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality. The recommended threshold for bathing is a geometric mean of 200 E coli/100mL and a single sample of 400 E coli/100 mL.

A beach is marked Green when geometric mean results are under 200 E.coli / 100 mL water and single sample results are below 400 E.coli/100mL.

A beach is marked Red when the geometric mean results are equal to or above 200 E.coli / 100 mL water or single sample results are above 400 E.coli/100 mL.

A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.

The geometric mean is calculated based on the 5 last samples.

The single simple is the weekly sample result.

Water Quality Graph