Queen's Park: New Westminster's 1887 original, BC's first park

New Westminster was established in 1859 as the first capital of the Colony of British Columbia, and its signature park carries that history in every acre. Queen's Park, 75 acres of forest, fields, and facilities northeast of city hall, was the first established public park in British Columbia, and it has been the city's backyard for nearly 140 years.

From Queen's Ravine to golden jubilee

Colonel Richard Clement Moody, the Royal Engineer who laid out New Westminster, originally named the area Queen's Ravine. In the 1870s, the reserve was divided between a penitentiary, an asylum, and the park itself. The park was officially declared open in 1887, a celebration of Queen Victoria's 50th year on the throne, giving the city a grand public ground at the height of its Victorian confidence.

An exhibition building followed in 1890, large enough to hold 5,000 people for viewing the athletic fields and race track. The park quickly became the region's great gathering place.

Zoos, wars, and fire

The park's history reads like a condensed history of the province. Local firefighters built its first zoo in 1906, which kept bears and cougars. The New Westminster Arena went up in 1914, intended for horse competitions but converted to an ice rink instead. During the First World War, the park became a training site for expeditionary force soldiers, its buildings turned into barracks.

Disaster struck in 1929 when a large fire destroyed most of the park's buildings, and the Great Depression delayed restoration for years. The park served again as training grounds and housing for the Westminster Regiment during the Second World War before settling into its modern role.

The park today

Modern Queen's Park is remarkably complete. The Queen's Park Arena is the current home of the New Westminster Salmonbellies, the storied lacrosse club, and Queen's Park Stadium hosts field sports beside it. Families come for the seasonal animal petting farm, the spray park, tennis courts, sports fields, and the bandshell that anchors summer concerts.

The forested interior remains one of the park's great pleasures: shaded trails wind through mature trees that survived the logging era, offering quiet minutes from downtown. The surrounding residential neighbourhood, one of New Westminster's most prestigious, is bounded by Sixth Avenue, Sixth Street, and Royal Avenue, its heritage houses looking over the park.

Visiting from the Tri-Cities

Queen's Park is an easy trip from the Tri-Cities: about 20 minutes by car from Coquitlam, or ride the SkyTrain to New Westminster station and enjoy a walk uphill through the city's downtown. Parking is available around the park's entrances, and the petting farm and spray park make it one of the region's best free family outings in summer.

A sporting heart

Sport has anchored Queen's Park for well over a century. The 1890 exhibition building overlooked athletic fields and a race track, and competitive sport never left. Queen's Park Arena and Queen's Park Stadium still host lacrosse, hockey, soccer, and community tournaments through the year, and the Salmonbellies' summer box lacrosse games remain one of the great local sporting traditions in British Columbia, with crowds that span four generations of the same families.

The park's tennis courts, sports fields, and running routes keep it busy daily, and its open lawns absorb everything from picnics to festival crowds. Few parks in the province balance heritage and everyday use this well.

The neighbourhood

The residential district around the park is one of New Westminster's most storied addresses. Bounded by Sixth Avenue, Sixth Street, Royal Avenue, and the park itself, the Queen's Park neighbourhood holds one of the region's finest collections of heritage houses, including lovingly maintained Queen Anne and Craftsman homes on quiet, tree-lined streets. The city's heritage controls have kept the area's character remarkably intact, and a walking loop through the neighbourhood and the park together is one of the best free architecture tours in Metro Vancouver.

Seasons in the park

Spring brings cherry blossom and daffodils to the park's edges, summer belongs to the spray park, bandshell concerts, and lacrosse nights, and fall turns the forested interior into one of the region's underrated colour walks. Even in winter the park earns a visit: the arena's ice, the quiet trails, and the heritage streets around the perimeter make it a four-season anchor for the city. For Tri-Cities families who have done Rocky Point and Lafarge Lake on repeat, Queen's Park is the obvious next classic to add to the rotation.

Getting there

Queen's Park sits just east of New Westminster's downtown, a short uphill walk or quick bus ride from the New Westminster and Columbia SkyTrain stations on the Expo Line. From the Tri-Cities, the SkyTrain trip from Coquitlam Centre takes about 35 minutes with one transfer, making the park an easy car-free outing.

* Cover photo: Flying Penguin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0