Stanley Park History Walking Tours

It’s no secret that Stanley Park is our favourite place in Vancouver with its forest trails, seasonal creeks and waterways, wildlife, and the ability to immediately help you escape the city — without going too far. It just so happens that this wonderful place is celebrating a milestone 125th anniversary this year and people like Jolene Coming want to share its history.

1890s: Stanley Park Entrance. Archives Item# LGN 1048.

Jolene has been presenting “secrets” of the park through historical walking tours for the last 10 years and she’s got a special anniversary tour lined up for Saturday, May 25, 2013.

This anniversary tour will set out from the Stanley Park Pavilion and run from 1:30pm until 3:30pm. It’s drop-in only, rain or shine, and cash-only ($10 per person), and includes the walking tour, history, and rare historical photographs.

Next month, Jolene will lead another walk, “E. Pauline Johnson 100 Years: A Stanley Park Historical Walking Tour”:

In 1913 flags flew at half mast the day poet & stage performer E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) died in Vancouver’s West End. Johnson loved, routinely visited and wrote about Stanley Park. This tour will follow the trails she walked, stroll through the “Cathedral Trees” from her “The Lure of Stanley Park” story, walk the shores where she paddled her canoe, and visit the body of water she named Lost Lagoon. Also hear about other park themes from Johnson’s best selling 1912 “Legends of Vancouver” book, like Deadman’s Island and Siwash Rock. Includes rare historical photographs.

You can join this tour on Sunday, June 2, 2013 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm. This one will depart from Lost Lagoon viewing plaza (Alberni and Chilco) and is also drop-in only, rain or shine, and cash-only ($10 per person).

Jolene Cumming has been producing and presenting public history events and programs since 2001. She is the co-founder and co-coordinator of the Herstory Cafe and is the founder of the Stanley Park History Group. Both of these tours will offer an opportunity to go beyond the Seawall to explore the modern history (and beyond) of Stanley Park, Vancouver’s Crown Jewel.