July 30, 2024
The Stanley Park Seawall bike path is the most well known ride in Vancouver, BC and for good reason. A perfectly flat, paved trail with ocean views the entire ride was the perfect way to kick off our Alaskan cruise vacation. The Seawall loop is about a 7-mile, one-way path around the peninsula housing Stanley Park. You must ride counterclockwise around the park, so no turning around if you get tired. The path is split into two with one side for bikers and one for walkers with a curb in the middle. But thanks to the one-way, you don’t have to watch for oncoming bikers.
The trail is very narrow in sections with some tight corners. This makes it nearly impossible to pass people so be prepared for a slower ride. With the outstanding views though, the slower pace is perfect for sightseeing. The Seawall Path is the longest uninterrupted waterfront path in the world!
Thanks to the trail’s popularity, there are a bunch of bike rental shops available. I recommend Spokes due to their proximity to the Georgia St. entrance of the Seawall path. A beach cruiser will easily do the job since there are no hills. I reserved a half day, but the Seawall only takes a couple hours so you could just do the hourly rental instead. From Spokes, you only need to walk a block down Denman St. to the start of the Seawall Path.
Follow the trail to the right to stay on the required counterclockwise loop along the coast. The first real lookout is Hallelujah Point which offers a great view of the Vancouver skyline. Unfortunately we rode on a fairly overcast day so the views weren’t quite as grand. Continue on to the Brockton Point Lighthouse around the point where you’ll start to get glimpses of the towering Lion’s Gate Bridge. The trail gets extremely narrow around the corner by the lighthouse. Remember to fully pull over and off the trail if you want pictures to avoid a collision.
Just after the Girl in a Wetsuit sculpture you’ll approach the Fox’s Den Spray Park. This is the first of three times you’ll have to dismount your bike and walk it across the park entrance of about 30 feet. The next dismount zone is just after passing underneath the Lion’s Gate Bridge when you’re approaching the Prospect Point Lighthouse. Walk your bike along the brick paved path until you’re around the corner.
You’re now at about the halfway point of the Seawall Path loop and heading back down the opposite side of the peninsula. This was my favorite section of the ride. Siwash rock, a tall rocky outcrop with a tree growing on top, and arguably the most photographed point of the ride is less than a mile past the Prospect Point Lighthouse. After Siwash rock you’ll pass Third Beach, a sandy beach that’s great for a quick swim or lunch break. This is usually a pretty popular beach when it’s warm. Since it was overcast when we rode by, it was mostly deserted.
Shortly after you’ll pass by Second Beach which has a beautiful oceanside pool. We stopped for a quick bathroom break and then somehow accidently took a wrong turn and ended up on an interior path instead of the Seawall. Fortunately, we realized our mistake after only about 5 minutes and re-routed. We did run across a gorgeous hydrangea garden so we stopped for some photo-ops. Hydrangeas are plentiful during the ride so keep your eyes peeled!
We did this ride with my entire family and my dad does not like biking at all. At this point he was ready to turn around so sadly, we didn’t complete the last 1.5 miles of Seawall Path. We instead cut through the park by the Ted and Mary Greig Rhododendron Garden and the tennis courts back to Spokes Rental as quickly as we could to avoid any grumpiness.
After we dropped off those who did not want to ride anymore, we headed over to Kitsilano Beach. We cut over on Chilco St. to Beach Ave which had a really great on-street bike path. Follow Beach until it’s time to cross the Burrard St. Bridge, which again has a protected bike trail. Pick a quiet street to ride for a couple blocks until you run into Kitsilano Beach. The beach has a nice walking path that runs the length of the sand. When we visited there were a bunch of beach volleyball games happening which was exciting for us since we never get to watch that sport. We explored for a bit before heading back over the bridge in search of some lunch.
Kitsilano Beach was a little disappointing honestly and maybe that was because it was a gloomy day. But I wouldn’t put this high on the must-visit list. I would have rather biked another loop on the Seawall Path or explored the interior of Stanley Park instead. The street biking was easy to navigate though and most streets had great bike lanes, but a few short, steep hills.
After dinner, K and I hopped on the rent-by-the-hour city bikes and went for a late night bonus ride. We wanted to get a skyline view so we headed out to Lion’s Gate Bridge. We rode down the empty downtown streets before joining the Stanley Park Causeway. This was quite a busy street, but it does have a protected bike trail. The climb up the bridge was surprisingly steep, especially on bikes that had minimal gears! We decided to only bike to the midway point of the bridge so we only had to climb once. The skyline view was worth the effort though
The bike paths on each side of the bridge are one-way riding. We were unable to cross over to the correct side of the bridge to ride downhill since we stopped mid-bridge. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this, but we rode down the wrong-way path. We pedaled slowly and made sure to pull over for any oncoming bikers. Then we finally crossed over to the correct side of the road as soon as we got off the bridge.
We explored Stanley Park Drive for a few miles after a quick stop at Prospect Point Lookout. While the road is largely vacant it is extremely dark so ride with caution. We ended up doing an extra 10 miles on this night ride by the time we got back to the hotel.
Overall, I agree with everything else I’ve read that the Stanley Park Seawall Path is a must do in Vancouver! The ocean views for the entire ride and perfectly flat trail are unbeatable. The only downside is how busy the trail is so I would recommend going early or late especially on a sunny day. Otherwise be prepared for a slow, congested ride.
