Queen Elizabeth Park
Queen Elizabeth Park is a 130-acre municipal park along the flanks of Cambie Street and Midlothian Avenue. It spreads on top of Vancouver’s Little Mountain, with an elevation of approximately 125 metres above sea level.
Its location was formerly the domain of basalt quarries dug during the early years of the 20th century to supply materials for road-building in the city.
The idea of converting the abandoned quarries into a sunken garden first came about in 1936, a suggestion put forward to the Vancouver Park Board by the BC Tulip Association. The park board took over the site towards the end of that decade, converting it to a park for recreational use.
King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth (the mother of Queen Elizabeth II) inaugurated the park during their 1939 Vancouver visit as King and Queen of Canada.
From that year, the park’s overgrown hillsides underwent transformation to eventually become the first civic arboretum in Canada.
The quarry gardens, designed by Park Board Deputy Superintendent Bill Livingstone, grew in popularity after their unveiling in the early 1960s.
The park later received a $1.25 million gift from Prentice Bloedel, the late premier of Alberta, to fund the park’s first geodesic conservatory. The Bloedel Floral Conservatory’s grounds features covered walkways, lighted fountains and an abstract sculpture, Henry Moore’s Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65.
The conservatory traditionally hosts in December the Yule event Festivale Tropicale at Bloedel, featuring magical lights, colourful plant displays, festive music, a scavenger hunt, and free flying exotic birds..
The other attractions in the Queen Elizabeth Park include a Celebration Pavilion, a popular venue for weddings and other special events.
A wide-ranging selection of recreational facilities has been incorporated in the park, which includes a beginner-friendly, pitch and putt golf course. This countered 18-hole golf links offers a short play of par 3 for all holes, with no hazard whatsoever along the layout. Club rentals and caddy service, as well as tee and ball sales, are available at the course’s pro shop.
The park is also home to the 18-hole Little Mountain disc golf course located at its southeast corner. This design of this short course accommodates alternate layouts and provides three additional practice baskets on its north side.
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