Metro Vancouver Parks Series: John Hendry Park and Trout Lake
byWelcome to a new series on Miss604, inspired by springtime and the urge to leave the house and get out in this great region of ours – rain or shine. Over the next little while some guest bloggers and I will feature some well- and little-known green spaces throughout the city, how to get there, what to do, what they can offer and any extras we might find useful to someone wanting to go out and explore.
First up: John Hendry Park featuring Trout Lake
View Larger Map
How to get there by Transit: Bus from downtown, #7 Nanaimo (East then Sounthbound, get off at East 17th). Bus from Nanaimo Skytrain, #7 Dunbar/Downtown (Northbound) or Skytrain to Nanaimo and walk north about 5-6 blocks on Nanaimo and take E17th to access the park.
Size: 27.4 Hectares/ 68 Acres
Features and selling points: Trout Lake Community Centre (including playground, pottery studio, fitness centre, games room, sauna, snack bar, gym, whirlpool ice rink), festivals (such as the Illuminares lantern festival), dog off-leash areas, covered picnic centre, and swimming in the summer.
History: “The land was the site of one of Vancouver’s most important features in the late 1800s – the Hastings Sawmill. Trout Lake, a natural peat bog forming the largest feature on the park, was the important water source for the mill which was owned by John Hendry, a prominent individual due to his influence in developing the region’s forest industry.” – Source Vancouver Parks. You can also read a more detailed history of the prominent and successful lumberman within this biography.
Notes: No, there are no trout in Trout Lake but what it lacks in fish it makes up for in sheer size. Last Saturday I was out there with John’s work softball team (they call it baseball but really, it’s softball says John). Runners, bikers, joggers, picnic goers and dog walkers were all out on this sunny afternoon amidst the grass fields, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, marshy brush, and giant oak trees. The park will be getting a facelift for 2010 including a new ice rink at the community centre.
If anyone out there has a favourite city park, drop me a line if you’d like to write a guest post or suggest a destination.
12 Comments — Comments Are Closed
I drive down Grandview hwy a couple times a week and I have always noticed a sign saying Trout Lake. I was always curious if they stocked it with trout, now I know they don’t! Perhaps I’ll turn left at Victoria Dr and take a gander at the lake.
You’ve got ‘direct message’ mail on your Twitter re: the park I’d like to cover. We wouldn’t want to spoil the fun, would we? Hehehe.
My favourite park in the City, for personal reflective reasonings is Trimble Park, above what used to be the School for the Blind (now West Point Grey Academy).
Once you walk across the park, onto the hill overlooking 4th Avenue and ultimately the ocean, I’m always humbled by its beauty…
[…] At 8:45 in the pouring rain we took off from the Pacific Coliseum and headed to New Brighton Park for our first clue which lead us over to Trout Lake / John Hendry Park. […]
I took a gazillion photos of Trout Lake today and the Farmers Market thinking “oh yay, I’m going to use these to write a guest post for Rebecca’s Park Series”. Turns out you already covered Trout Lake!
[…] could use them to write a review of the park for Miss604’s Park Series, but as it turns out, Rebecca has already written a thorough and comprehensive post on Trout Lake. So I’m just going… and then come back. Done? Ok, now I can continue with my recap. Yes, I’ve been doing a lot of […]
i have caught a 6 lb at trout lake,what a surprise my son and i are looking forward to catch our second big trout tommorrow morning.
Sorry to inform you,( but happily) but i have lived across the street from trout lake for 8 years, and there are rainbow trout and cutthroat trout stocked. You can see people fishing off the docks, most days, and wonder at their catch of the day!
There is trout in trout lake! I’ve caught trout in trout lake before and also caught carp, bullhead, sunfish, and black crappies! back in 2002 my dad and I caught from early April to early July, we caught 64 rainbow trout together. Also back in 2004 my dad caught an 18 inch trout from that lake, it might have been rainbow or maybe even been a cutthroat trout. I still fish there in 09 and I can see them jumping in the early mornings and late evenings to catch the insects on the lake. So there is definitely trout in trout lake!
There has always been trout in Trout lake, even before the sawmill was there.
http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/1889.htm
**The mill had to post a man full-time at the lake to stop the beavers there from building dams that blocked the flow. Another of his chores was to remove the lake’s trout from the flume, which at times was almost choked with fish.**
You know, an ex co-worker of mine told me that Trout Lake was man-made. I didn’t believe it. But I wonder, you said that it was a peat bog, which is quite different than a lake. Is it partly man-made?
I walked toward the lake the other day and saw people fishing on the dock — I asked them what they were catching, and “catfish” was the reply. I reached into their bucket and found a pretty centrarchid (sunfish, not sure of species if pumpkinseed or crappie or ?) and assumed the rest of the fish were the same. I doubt there are any siliurids (catfish).