Queen Elizabeth Revisited
Markus standing within the bamboo plants by the Large Quarry Garden at Queen Elizabeth Park
As one of the most well-known and beautiful in the world, Queen Elizabeth Park is one that we find ourselves regularly visiting. We've previously shared about the one path that we end up taking the most when we're there, but it's funny and almost incomprehensible that that particular path doesn't exactly show off the beauty that Queen Elizabeth Park is known for.
Our dog Markus is a reactive dog and we try to keep him in lower stress environments, which often includes avoiding a large number of dogs at once, off-leash dogs or passing by dogs in confined and tight paths. For us, this translates to walking along the outside of the park rather than inside it where the crowds tend to be.
On this particular day while it was later in the day and was already starting to get dark, we made one of our visits to Queen Elizabeth Park. We noticed at the parking lots that the park was fairly empty, which is unusual given that it was over the weekend and the parking lots can often be so full that people resort to parking on the streets outside of the park. Since it wasn't as busy, we weren't as concerned with the crowds, so we took the opportunity to *gasp* go into the park.
About Queen Elizabeth Park
Type: Park
Length: 2.1 km
Traffic: Moderate to High
Route Type: Loop
As mentioned above, we've shared about one of our other visits to Queen Elizabeth Park before, a 3.3km walk that goes along the outer edge of the park. While that path is quieter with fewer crowds, you don't necessarily get the full experience and what the park is known for. While there are ponds and woods along the way, you don't get to experience the colours and vibrance of the flowers and the finer intricacies of their gardens.
Queen Elizabeth Park is open to the public and over the weekends - even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic - you will find a lot of people looking to get some fresh air by coming here for a walk or a jog around the park. Recreationally, Queen Elizabeth Park also has an off-leash dog area by the tennis, basketball and pickleball courts. If your dog is reactive, just be aware that this off-leash area is unfenced and there tends to be plenty of dogs running around and playing.
The Quarry Gardens
While the outside of the park is pretty straightforward and easy to follow, the inside of the park is a bit more complex and it's easy to get turned around. That said, the garden area of the park isn't that big, so as long as you keep following the signs and walking, you'll eventually find your way out of it. Inside the park, there are two quarry gardens aptly named the Large Quarry Garden and the Small Quarry Garden. Our path will visit each of these areas.
To begin, we started at the same area we usually do when we take Markus for a walk at Queen Elizabeth Park - at the parking lots by the courts. If you're lucky, you'll be able to find parking at the lot. If not, you might have to park on the streets and cut across the off-leash dog field to get into the park. One other thing to note is that sometime in the past few months, the parking at Queen Elizabeth Park is no longer free. For this reason alone, you might consider parking on the street anyway.
From the parking lot, we start by going along the straight path where cars are usually parked in a line, making our way past the courts, the Rose Garden, another parking lot and a notched tree that's great for photo taking! Once you've passed all of those things, you can start paying attention to the signs and you'll eventually come across a path with a sign that points towards the Bloedel Floral Conservatory or the Large Quarry Gardens. Follow this path, which has a slight incline.
When you're on this path, it's a forward shot towards the Large Quarry Gardens where we'll be making the first stop. This part of the gardens has an inner and outer path and we made a loop around the inner one. Do not that the paths were narrow here, so if there are other dogs in the loop already and your dog is not great with meeting other dogs in narrower spaces, you might not want to enter this part of the park. Since it was late in the day and the park was already quiet, we were able to make our way around the garden and enjoyed the views (there's even an area with bamboo)!
When we circled our way out of the Large Quarry Garden, we kept along the path and made our way east towards the Small Quarry Garden. It's a lot quieter along this area and there's really not as much to see here especially since we came by in the winter. There is a small bridge that you can cross over what appeared to be a small creek that's since been dried up. We mostly just cut through this area and kept working our way upwards and around the path until we were in front of the Season in the Park restaurant.
If you followed our previous path, you'll recognize that the tail end of that other path is actually the same as this one here. From the restaurant, there is a lookout off to the left side that looks over downtown Vancouver from a distance. This is a great spot to pause and take some photos!
From the viewpoint, we just keep following the path to the Bloedel Floral Conservatory (it's a big round ball-like structure that's hard to miss) and towards the water fountain. Since COVID-19, the fountain's been fenced off - especially since they were having problems with people bubbles into the fountain! Cut across the fountain area and you will end up at the edge of another parking lot. If you cut across the lot, there is a hidden path on the other side that will take you downwards and back to the courts where you began.
What we liked
Especially when it's in season, the colours and smells of the flowers and plants are absolutely worth seeing.
What we didn't like
During the weekends on a nice day, this park gets extremely busy with people and dogs.
Parking in the park is no longer free, unfortunately. But hey, maybe that makes the park a little less busy.
Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs
If your dog is reactive, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this path unless you're able to come at the right time when it's not as busy. The reason for this is because people come to visit the gardens, so that's generally where the crowds are and plenty of them have their dogs. If your dog is reactive to dogs, but not people, you might be able to get by.
The second thing to consider is that the paths by the gardens are fairly narrow and we had to find a spot to pull Markus over so that the other dogs could get past. That said, all of the other dogs inside the park were on-leash and the best way to experience Queen Elizabeth Park is truly through the gardens with their rich and vibrant colours of the flowers and plants.
Disclaimer
Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.
Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.
