thumb|300px|Luftansicht des Stanley Park
Der '''Stanley-Park''' ist ein 404,9 Frederick Arthur Stanley benannte Park befindet sich direkt neben der Innenstadt an der Nordspitze einer Halbinsel, die in den Fjord Burrard Inlet hineinragt. Jährlich wird er von etwa acht Millionen Einheimischen und Touristen besucht. Durch den Park zieht sich ein 200 km langes Netz von Spazierwegen. Der größte Teil des Parks besteht aus einem Wald mit rund einer halben Million Bäumen. Sehenswürdigkeiten sind unter Anderem der Beaver Lake, das Vancouver Aquarium, die vorgelagerte Insel Deadman's Island, der Siwash Rock sowie die rund um den gesamten Park führende 8,8 km lange Ufermauer mit einer Fahrbahn für Spaziergänger, Fahrradfahrer und Inlineskater. 

== Geschichte ==
thumb|Statue von Lord Stanley
Kapitän Russen blieb aber aus und in den frühen 1860er Jahren wurde die Halbinsel zu einem militärischen Sperrgebiet erklärt. Die Halbinsel wäre strategisch günstig gelegen, falls US-amerikanische Truppen versucht hätten, die damalige Provinzhauptstadt New Westminster vom Burrard Inlet her anzugreifen.

Obwohl zwischen den 1860er und 1880er Jahren sechs Forstunternehmen in der Gegend tätig waren, blieb die Halbinsel wegen der militärischen Nutzung von einer großflächigen Rodung verschont. 1886 wurde die Stadt Vancouver gegründet. Als erste Amtshandlung überhaupt beschloss der Stadtrat eine Petition an die kanadische Dominion-Regierung, mit der Bitte, das Sperrgebiet zu verpachten und in einen Park umzuwandeln.

Nachdem die Regierung dieser Bitte entsprochen hatte, ernannte der Stadtrat eine sechsköpfige Kommission zur Verwaltung des Parks. 1890 wurde sie durch den ''Vancouver Park Board'' ersetzt, dessen sieben Mitglieder von den Einwohnern der Stadt gewählt statt ernannt werden. Die Kommission verwaltet heute 192 Grünflächen in ganz Vancouver mit einer Gesamtfläche von 12,78 km², wobei der Stanley Park mit Abstand am größten ist.

Am 27. September 1888 erfolgte die offizielle Eröffnung des Parks, der nach Frederick Arthur Stanley benannt wurde, dem damaligen kanadischen Generalgouverneur. 1908 verlängerte die Regierung den Pachtvertrag um weitere 99 Jahre. 1988 wurde der Park zu einem National Historic Site erklärt.

== Sehenswürdigkeiten ==

=== Natur ===
thumb|Siwash Rock
Der Wald, der große Teile des Parks bedeckt, ist nicht das Ergebnis von Riesenlebensbäumen, Westlichen Hemlocktannen und entwaldet. Die erste war ein schwerer Herbststurm im Oktober 1934, gefolgt von einem schweren Schneesturm im Januar und Februar 1935, dem Tausende von Bäumen zum Opfer fielen. Ein weiterer Sturm im Oktober 1962, ein Ausläufer des Pazifik, zerstörte ein rund 2,5 km² großes Waldgebiet. Am 15. Dezember 2006 richtete ein heftiger Wintersturm (Windgeschwindigkeiten bis 215 km/h) auf 40 % der Waldfläche große Schäden an. Seit 1992 werden die höchsten Bäume aus Sicherheitsgründen von den Parkangestellten zurückgestutzt.

Der Erosion. ''Beaver Lake'' ist ein See im Zentrum des Stanley Park, der auf allen Seiten von Wald umgeben ist und viele Wasservogelarten anzieht. Die vielen Seerosen entziehen dem See Sauerstoff, der dadurch immer weniger in der Lage ist, organisches Material abzubauen und sich langsam in einen Sumpf verwandelt. Der ''Lost Lagoon'' liegt am südlichen Ende des Parks und ist ein künstlich angelegter See. Er entstand im Jahr 1916, als eine Meeresbucht durch den Bau eines Straßendammes entzweigeteilt wurde.

''Deadman's Island'' (Insel des toten Mannes) liegt südwestlich des Parks in der Bucht ''Coal Harbour''. Diese 3,8 Hektar große Insel erhielt diesen Namen, weil sich auf ihr eine indianische Begräbnisstätte befindet. Bis 1887 wurde die Insel auch von europäischen Siedlern als Friedhof genutzt.

=== Erholung ===
thumb|Der Seawall verläuft rund um den gesamten Park
Es gibt zahlreiche Erholungs- und Freizeiteinrichtungen im Park. Am beliebtesten ist der ''Seawall'', der rund um die gesamte Halbinsel entlang der Küste verläuft und stellenweise in die steil abfallenden Felsen gehauen wurde. Der Bau dieser 8,8 km langen Ufermauer begann 1914, wurde aber erst am 26. September 1971 für beendet erklärt. Auf dem Seawall befindet sich ein asphaltierter Weg für Spaziergänger, Jogger, Radfahrer und Inlineskater. Die beiden letztgenannten Gruppen dürfen den Weg nur entgegen dem Uhrzeigersinn benutzen. Für Fußgänger und Jogger wurde der Weg an beiden Enden auf eine Länge von 22 km erweitert. Er beginnt am Canada Place, verläuft rund um den Park, entlang dem Strand an der English Bay und anschließend rund um den False Creek und endet an der Kitsilano Beach. 

{{Infobox park
|park=Stanley Park
|image=Stanley Park Labeled Aerial Map.png
|image size=350px
|caption=Aerial view of Stanley Park
|type=Municipal 
|location=Vancouver
|coordinates=
|size=404.9 hectare (1,000 acre) 
|opened=1888
|operator=Vancouver Park Board
|annual visitors=8 million
|status=Open all year
}}
thumb|220px|Location of Stanley Park within Vancouver.  
'''Stanley Park''' is a 404.9 hectare (1,000 acre) downtown Lord Stanley of Preston, who later became the Earl of Derby.<ref> </ref>
It is the largest city-owned park in seawall path circles the park, which is used by 2.5 million pedestrians, cyclists, and inline skaters every year.<ref></ref> Much of the park remains forested with an estimated half million trees that can be as tall as 76 metres (250 ft) and hundreds of years old.<ref></ref><ref> </ref>
There are approximately 200 km (125 miles) of trails and roads in the park, which are patrolled by the equine mounted squad.<ref></ref> The Project for Public Spaces has ranked Stanley Park as the sixteenth best park in the world and sixth best in North America.<ref></ref>

==History==
thumb|right|300px|This photograph shows Sḵwx̱wú7mesh longhouses once located in 1886 at [[Coal Harbour.]]The area of the park is the traditional territory of a few different indigenous peoples. On the potlachs where a host would invite guests to witness and participate in ceremonies and the giving away of property.<ref name=Barman43>Barman, Jean (2005). ''Stanley Park's Secrets''. Habour Publishing, 43. ISBN 978155074205</ref>

The park itself was a rich resource for gathering food and materials. The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh "cut down large cedar trees in Stanley Park for making canoes and other purposes" utilizing "nothing but stone chisels and a big round stone for a hammer."<ref name=Barman20/> Where present Second Beach is, a place called "St’i’teke<u>k</u>w’" to Sḵwx̱wú7mesh was used to gather "a clay material or muddy substance formally obtained right in the bed of a small creek... which, when rolled into loaves, as (my people) did it, and heated or roasted before a fire, turned into a white like chalk"<ref>Barman, Jean (2005). ''Stanley Park's Secrets''. Habour Publishing, 21. ISBN 978155074205.</ref> This material was used in the making of mountain goal wool and dog wool blankets.  The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh name references this material.  Another home for local natives was where present Prospect Point is.  This place is called "Schi'lhus" meaning ''High Bluff.''  Coal Harbour or "Ch’elxwa’7elch" meaning ''Gets dry at times'', was known as a fishing spot for herring.  Deadman's Island located in Coal Harbour was once used a burial island, possibly a reason for its macabre name.  The popular landmark Andrew Paull.<ref></ref>
thumb|200px|left|View of Siwash Rock, taken from the hiking trail above.
First contact between Europeans occurred in 1791, with Spanish Captain British admirals arranged with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Joe Capilano that in the case of an invasion, the British would defend the south shore of Burrard Inlet and the Squamish would defend the north.<ref></ref> 

According to Capilano’s daughter, the British gave him and his men 60 muskets. Although the attack anticipated by the British never came, the guns were used by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh to repel an attack by an indigenous raid from the north. Stanley Park was not attacked but this was the beginning of it being considered a strategic military location by the British.<ref></ref>

The Dominion government to lease the reserve for use as a park. 

To manage their new acquisition, city council appointed a six-man park committee, which was replaced with the Vancouver Park Board in 1890 that was to be elected rather than appointed (a rarity in North American cities). The Vancouver Park Board manages 192 parks on over 12.78&nbsp;km² (3,160 acres) of land, but Stanley Park remains by far the largest.<ref></ref>

thumb|left|170px|A statue of [[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|Lord Stanley at the quoted moment.]] 
On Lord Stanley, Governor General to visit British Columbia when he officially dedicated the park. An observer at the event wrote:
<blockquote></ref>}}</blockquote>

thumb|200px|''[[Vancouver Province'' photo of debris left by 1935 storm and warning of the fire hazard if not cleaned up.]]
When Stanley made this declaration, there were still a number of indigenous people living on lands he had claimed for the park. Some, who had built their homes less than twenty years earlier, would continue to live on the land for years. Most of the dwellings at the Squamish village of X̱wáýx̱way were reported as vacant by 1899, and in 1900, two of such houses were purchased by the Parks Board for $25 each and burned. One Sḵwx̱wú7mesh family, “Howe Sound Jack,” and Sexwalia “Aunt Sally” Kulkalem, continued to live at X̱wáýx̱way until Sally's death in 1923. Sally's ownership of the property surrounding her home was accepted by authorities in the 1920s, and following her death, the property was purchased from her heir, Mariah Kulkalem, for $15,500 and resold to the Federal government.<ref>[http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/board/2003/031006/sp_cis.pdf Historical and Geographical Contexts], Stanley Park Commemorative Integrity Statement, Parks Canada.</ref>

In 1908, twenty years after the first petition for the lease, the federal government renewed the lease of Stanley Park to Vancouver for ninety-nine years, renewable in 2007.<ref>[http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/chronology5.htm The History of Metropolitan Vancouver: 1908] Retrieved on 2008-06-15.</ref>

Deadman's Island, a small island off Stanley Park and now the site of the naval reserve unit Mountain View Cemetery opened in 1887, just after Vancouver had become a city. During a small pox outbreak in the late 1880s, Deadman's Island became a "pest house" for quarantined victims of the disease and burial site for those who did not survive.<ref> </ref>

The park was designated a National Historic Site by the federal government in 1988. It was deemed significant because the relationship between its "natural environmental and its cultural elements developed over time" and because "it epitomizes the large urban park in Canada."<ref></ref>

== Attractions ==

Stanley Park contains numerous natural and man-made attractions that lure visitors to the park. Unlike other large urban parks, Stanley Park is not the product of a landscape architect, but has evolved into its present, mixed-use configuration.<ref></ref> 

=== Forest ===
thumb|175px|left|Trees growing out of stumps show the regeneration of the park forest.
The forest gives the park a more natural character than most other urban parks, leading many users to consider it an urban second and third growth and contains many huge Western Redcedar, Western Hemlock, and Sitka Spruce trees. 
thumb|right|One of the large trees knocked down by the wind storm on [[15 December 2006.]]
In addition to logging in the nineteenth century, large swathes of the park were deforested by natural causes on three occasions in the city’s history. The first was a combination of an October windstorm in 1934 and a subsequent snowstorm the following January that felled thousands of trees, primarily between Beaver Lake and Prospect Point.<ref></ref> Another storm in October 1962, the remnants of Typhoon Freda, cleared a six acre virgin tract behind the children's zoo, which opened an area for a new miniature railway that replaced a smaller version built in the 1940s. In total, approximately 3,000 trees were lost in that storm.<ref></ref> 

Another storm ravaged the park on 15 December 2006 with 115 km/h (71&nbsp;mph) winds. Over 60% of the western edge was damaged; the worst part was the area around Prospect Point.<ref></ref> In total, about 40% of the forest was affected, with an estimated 3,000 trees damaged. Large sections of the seawall were also destabilized by the storm, and many areas of the park were closed to the public pending restoration. The cost of restoration has been estimated at $9 million, which will be covered by contributions from all three levels of government and private and corporate donations.<ref></ref>

Since 1992, the tallest trees have been topped and otherwise pruned by park staff for safety reasons. 
thumb|right|Logging operation at Prospect Point, the area most damaged by the 2006 storm. 
Because the park has been subjected to such dramatic changes, several landmark trees have been affected. The Hollow Tree was probably the most photographed park element in bygone years, an obligatory stop for locals, tourists and dignitaries alike, and a professional photographer was on hand to capture the visit for a fee. The tree was saved from road widening in 1910 through the lobbying efforts of the photographer who made his living at the tree.<ref></ref> Automobiles and horse-drawn carriages would frequently be backed into the hollow, demonstrating the immensity of the tree for posterity. While the remaining 700-800 year-old stump still draws viewers and is commemorated with a plaque, it is no longer alive and has shrunk considerably over the years, from a circumference of 18.3m (60 ft) many decades ago, to a more recent 17.1 m (56 ft).<ref></ref><ref></ref> As of April 2008, it has been targeted for removal due to potential safety hazards.

thumb|left|170px|The ''[[National Geographic'' Western Redcedar about two months before it was uprooted by a storm.]]
Another tree that has achieved fame is the ''National Geographic'' Tree, so named because it appeared in the magazine’s October 1978 issue. With a circumference of 13.5 m (44½ ft), it was once one of the more impressive big Western Redcedars of the park. It diminished over time, ravaged by storms, a lightning strike, and topped by park staff to a height of 39.6 metre (130 ft) before being uprooted in October 2007.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> A small stand of tall trees that has not survived but was once a popular attraction, “The Seven Sisters,” is memorialized by a plaque and new replacement trees. The death of the distinctive fir tree atop Siwash Rock has also been memorialized with a replacement. The original died in the dry summer of 1965, and through the persistent efforts of park staff, a replacement finally took root in 1968.<ref></ref><ref></ref>

=== Bodies of water ===
In additional to being nearly surrounded by the spawn each year.<ref name="loststreams"></ref><ref name="beaverlake"/>

Lost Lagoon is a captive 16.6 hectare (41 acre) body of water, west of Georgia Street, near the Georgia Street entrance to the park. Surrounding the lake is a 1.75 km (1.1 mile) trail, and it features a lit fountain that was erected to commemorate the city's golden jubilee. It is a nesting ground to many species of bird, including swan, Canada goose, duck and great blue heron. 