Nature
Stanley Park occupies the northwestern half of Vancouver’s downtown peninsula and, at 405 hectares, ranks among the world’s large urban parks. Long before becoming Vancouver’s first park in 1888, the peninsula lay within the traditional territory of Coast Salish peoples, including the Squamish and Musqueam, with villages such as Whoi Whoi and Chaythoos and oral histories tied to Slhx̱i7lsh. After European arrival in the 1790s, the area saw mixed Indigenous and settler use, military reservation, and selective logging. The park developed from existing forest rather than a single formal plan, preserving dense woodland, shoreline, and seawall while also reflecting displacement, colonial development, and Vancouver’s growth.
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British Columbia · Canada
