Lighthouse Park

Lighthouse Park is a neighbourhood park located in a residential area in West Vancouver. It is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Vancouver as it is a National Historic Site of Canada. It is a well-maintained park, and is open year-round throughout all four seasons. The park is known for the Point Atkinson Lighthouse, located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. The park is made up of 75 hectares (182 acres) of mostly virgin rainforest, and was founded in 1792. The District of West Vancouver maintains and operates the park and permits visitors from 7:00am–10:00pm. Visitors to this park can enjoy the various beginner level hiking trails, as well as bring their dogs for a walk or have lunch along the rocks of the beach near the Lighthouse. There are various picnic benches scattered throughout the trails of the park, yet none near the beach and the lighthouse itself.HistoryLighthouse Park was originally known as Point Atkinson when it was founded in 1792. It was discovered by Captain George Vancouver aboard the Discovery, and 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 B.C agreeing to join Canada in 1871. The 182 acres of forest set aside in 1881 by the Dominion of Canada served as a dark backdrop of the lighthouse, and a source of fuel for the stream-powered foghorn of the lighthouse. This forest that was set aside in 1881 became what we call Lighthouse Park in present day. This first lighthouse was built by Arthur Finney of Nanaimo, and was made of wood accompanied by an attached keepers dwelling, where the lighthouse keeper of the time resided.