The full glory of autumn’s foliage is fleeting. One place to catch it is British Columbia, especially the easily accessible area in and around Vancouver. To that end, the Greater Vancouver Visitors and Convention Bureau serves up some suggestions:
- Queen Elizabeth Park is a mere 3.5 miles from city center, a 130-acre enclave harboring both deciduous and evergreen trees. When the former’s leaves turn, the contrast between the leafy trees and the evergreens is lovely.
- The dominant color at Van Dusen Botanical Gardens about this time of year is yellow, this as the eclectic plant life that lives here starts to change. The lily pads scattered amidst the garden’s ponds juxtapose beautifully with the shore plants in fall. Van Dusen is comparatively close too, just four miles from the heart of downtown.
- Farther out, some 5.5 miles away from town in Vancouver’s western reaches lies Memorial Park West in Dunbar. Far from the bustle of downtown, it’s a contemplative green space, one that also commemorates those who died in war. If you’re in search of the serene, the out-of-the-way, this may just be Vancouver’s best-kept secret.
- The green, but gorgeous, gorilla in the room is Stanley Park, one of the premier urban retreats on Planet Earth. We can’t begin to do Stanley justice in this piece, but the close-in park (2.2 miles) is a massive green space that abuts the water. In fall, it’s spectacular.
- Grouse Mountain is a sublime perch from which to steal an Eagle’s glimpse of BC. In the fall, shadows and streaks of sunlight alternately mute and illumine the mountain, a moving mosaic of color. Grouse Mountain is a terrific place to hike, especially this time of year.
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