Lighthouse Park

The Dominion government set aside 185 acres of forest behind the light station in 1881. The trees gave the lighthouse a dark backdrop and fuelled its steam foghorn, and that reserve became the park the District of West Vancouver manages today. The District counts about 75 hectares and calls the forest one of the remaining old-growth stands in the Lower Mainland. The trails are short, and some are hard enough going that the District asks for good walking shoes or boots.

Captain George Vancouver named Point Atkinson in 1792 for a friend he never identified. BC Geographical Names says the likeliest candidate is Thomas Atkinson. He later served as master of HMS Victory at Trafalgar. The first light here was lit on 17 March 1875. Contractor W.H. Rourke built the present tower in 1912 from reinforced concrete. It rises 18.3 metres on six sides, and Canada named it a national historic site in 1974 as an early example of that design. The light station grounds are closed to the public, so follow the trail map to the viewpoint that looks across to the tower.

During the Second World War the Department of National Defence put searchlights and guns on the point and billeted conscripts in barracks behind the light. The old enlisted men's dining hall now serves the Girl Guides as the Phyl Munday Nature House. Birders come for diving cormorants and soaring eagles, and the waters off the park are a Rockfish Protection Area.

West Van bans open fires all year, and in Lighthouse Park every kind of barbecue is banned as well. Smoking and vaping are not allowed in the District's parks or on its beaches. Dogs may run off leash on the trails if they stay on them, except on Birdsong Path, where they need a leash of two metres or less and each person may bring two at most.