Queen Elizabeth Park | Things To Do & See

Queen Elizabeth Park is one of the most popular public parks in Vancouver, chock full of gorgeous landscaping displays, jaw-dropping bird’s eye views, and outdoor recreational activities for all types of visitors.

On any given sunny day, you’ll see hordes of floral display enthusiasts, families, dog walkers, and photographers hanging around this 52-hectare green space. It sits on the top of Little Mountain – the highest point in Vancouver at 125 meters above sea level.

This incredible vantage point encourages view seekers to drop by and soak in the awe-inspiring views of the park, city, and mountains over the North Shore.

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Where Is Queen Elizabeth Park?

Queen Elizabeth Park is located at 33rd Avenue and Cambie Street.

• 10-minute walk from King Edward SkyTrain Station.
• 5-minute walk to Hillcrest Aquatic Centre and Nat Bailey Stadium.
• 20-minute-walk to VanDusen Botanical Garden.

What Is Queen Elizabeth Park Known for?

Queen Elizabeth Park is best known for its abundant flora species including exotic and native plants. It’s dotted with plenty of sports playgrounds, manicured quarry gardens, and home to the famous Bloedel Conservatory greenhouse.

If you’re looking for a place to hang out with friends or work out in the sun, there are multiple courts to choose from including tennis, lawn bowling, golfing, and picnicking. When you whisk your way up to the top of the park, you’ll find Seasons in the Park, an upscale restaurant to stargaze and soak up the sweeping wraparound view.

Things to See and Do at Queen Elizabeth Park

Hit Up the Pitch & Putt Golf Course

The pitch and putt golf course is one of the most visited recreational areas at Queen Elizabeth Park. Queen Elizabeth Pitch & Putt is set in lovely greenery with a variety of plants and trees to accompany your swing. 

This is an 18-hole course with no element more than 330 feet in length, making it a perfect place for beginners to hang out and game up their skills.

As the course is mounted into a hillside, you should expect to pitch and putt uphill and downhill, giving the play a greater challenge on the greens. There are no hazards in play so beginners won’t have a hard time scoring and enjoying.

Course length: 1,370.

Par: 54.

Hours: 10 am – 5:00 pm (weather permitting) from around the third weekend of March until the fall. Tee times are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Admission Rates (include tax):

Green Fees

Adult (19-64 years)
18 Holes Mon – Sun	$15.12
20 round punch cards†	$226.80
Monthly pass**	$90.46
Senior(65+)
18 Holes Mon – Sun	$10.61
20 round punch cards†	$158.76
Monthly pass	$63.32
Youth (18 years and under)
18 Holes Mon – Sun	$10.61
20 round punch cards†	$158.76
Monthly pass	$63.32

For Rent

Putter	$2.36
Wedge or iron	$2.36
Rubber tee	$1.01
Golf ball	$2.36

Note: 

• Rentals close 2.5 hours before the course’s closing time.
• Minimum two clubs per person. 
• You need at least a putter and an iron.
• Clubs for Sale (Left and Right Clubs)

Putter	$39.20
Pitching wedge	$39.20

Note: Last rentals are available at 3 pm and players are required to have at least two clubs including an iron and a putter.

Visit The Rose Garden

The rose garden is one of the park’s proudest floral displays, standing beside the evergreens and redwoods at Quarry Gardens and Arboretum. It’s just over a half-century old, but flourishing over 2,500 roses growing in beds aligned to reflect the shape of Queen Elizabeth II’s Imperial State Crown. 

Today, you’ll find plenty of rose varieties including hardy hybrids developed in Saskatchewan. All the roses are plotted out on the ground and crawling through fences over trellises.

To find the Rose Garden, walk to the south-western perimeter of the park where it’s located at 5175 Kersland Dr. When summer and autumn sweep through the garden, roses at the garden start to bloom in full swing, injecting their delicate scent into the air.

Enter The Bloedel Conservatory

One of the most talked-about attraction at Queen Elizabeth Park, the glass dome of Bloedel Conservatory, is a tropical paradise on its own. Sitting atop Vancouver’s highest point, it’s been going strong since 1969 with a staggering number of over 100 exotic birds, 500 exotic plants and flowers in a temperature-controlled environment.

Timed entry and the one-way path create an orderly route all through and opens out to all corners and habitats of free-ranging birds and plants. A walk around Bloedel lasts for 20 minutes.

Hours: 10 am – 4 pm.

Admission Rates (not include tax):

Type	Price
Adult (19-64 years)	$7.05
Senior (65+ years)	$4.80
Youth (13-18 years)	$4.80
Child (5-12 years)	$3.55
Children (4 and under)*	Free
VBGA	Free

Note:

• One adult, senior, or youth can supervise and accompany up to five children 0 – 4 years of age. This ratio is not applicable for daycares and school groups that have booked through our education department. 
•  The minimum age to visit the garden without an adult or guardian is 13 years of age (a youth). A 13 year-old may visit with younger children and without an adult or guardian present (for example: younger sibling or babysitter).

Catch the Downtown Skyline

Sandwiched right beside the Bloedel Conservatory and Seasons in the Park restaurant is an outlook area that gives you a stunning view of the downtown skyline and majestic Northshore Mountains on a clear day.

You’ll come across many people just in awe looking at the view, taking photos, and spotting key buildings like the iconic Harbour Centre building.

Stroll Along The Gardens

Similar to VanDusen Botanical Gardens, Queen Elizabeth Park is home to many species of flowers and trees for you to enjoy. Aside from the Rose Gardens, you’ll find these gardens and walkways of plants down the right side path of the Bloedel Conservatory.

During Spring and Summer, you’ll find these gardens filled with amateur photographers, families on a stroll, and couples enjoying some casual time together.

Catch The Sunset

Considering that the top of Queen Elizabeth Park is the highest point in the city, you bet that it is one of the best spots to watch the sun set. To the right of Bloedel Conservatory is a ledge of rocks where couples and families to grab a seat to watch the sun go down together.

Tennis, Pickleball, and Basketball Courts

The tennis and pickleball courts are located next to the dog park, right off the W 37th Ave at the southern edge of the park. There are 17 public courts for tennis and pickleball available for drop-ins on a first-come, first-served basis. Courts 10 to 16 are reserved for the Queen Elizabeth Tennis Club on Tuesdays and Fridays from 5 pm until sunset from May to September. Next door to the tennis and pickleball courts. 

Vancouver Lawn Bowling Club

The Vancouver Lawn Bowling Club welcomes drop-ins and from the end of April to September on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays with active membership year-round. The club is a stone’s throw away from the Rose Garden, where you can game up your skill on the well-maintained bowling green back-dropped by extraordinary gardenscape. 

Every year, the club hosts two major tournaments including the Andrew Dardano Memorial Triples for men and the Tournament of Roses Triples for women. Other than that, you can participate in a friendly competition against the club members during the season.

Drop-in Rate: $10 includes the use of Club bowls.  

Membership Fee: 

• $190/season + $25 fee of club bowls.
• $35 one-month trial fee for new members including free club bowls.

Note: Clean, flat-soled shoes are required.

Go For A Picnic

With the rolling hills, luscious gardens, and lots of green space, Queen Elizabeth Park signs it up as one of Vancouver’s best picnic areas. Socially distancing is no longer a problem because there’s plenty of picnic spots to hold. Check out the designated picnic area on the north side facing the Duck Pond to put down your tote and blanket under the shades of the Arboretum trees. Picnic tables, BBQ pits, and portable toilets are available at hand.

There’s another spot at the west-facing picnic spot near the hilltop where you’re consumed by manicured gardens while lazing around on the sunny slopes. All picnic sites can accommodate up to 50 people and no reservation is required.

Dog Park

There’s a large open dog park on the south side just off W 37th Ave. You can let your pooch run free and off-leash, hang out with other dogs, and play frisbee on this no-fenced flat field. There are lots of shades and trees swathing around the meadow, with benches facing the nearby tennis and pickleball courts.

The dog park is accessible all year round. Summer is the best time to hang out with your pooch in the tender sun, but the moments of glory in winter also guarantee the same level of fun.

Duck Pond

Take a step back and reflect at one of the most serene corners at Queen Elizabeth Park – the Duck Pond. Swimming on the surface of the shady pond is a raft of mallards, occasional northern pintail, and American wigeon. 

This is one of the best places in the park that’s tucked away from the stresses of the day. You can grab a bench, sit back, and read a book, or laze around at a large field behind the pond with a few trees offering shade for picnics.

Dine At Seasons in The Park Restaurant

Do you know that American President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin once had dinner at Seasons in the Park during the US-Russian Summit in Vancouver in 1993?

Today, this fine-dining restaurant is still a big hit for visitors and locals alike. Sitting on top of the hill at Queen Elizabeth Park, Seasons in the Park spruces up your dinner with the sweeping lap of nature and the beautiful Vancouver skyline.

Seasons in the Park comes out at its finest when the city is lit up after the sun is out. Book a table by the window for a romantic date night in Vancouver, or drop by for late lunch to enjoy the vista when the air is crisp. 

The menu at the restaurant features many fancy fine-dining options. You definitely want to go for white wine sangria, mushroom truffle, wood-fired salmon, and end with a slice of lemon cheesecake. Custom options for dietary restrictions including vegetarian and gluten-free items are also available.

Address: W 33rd Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Y 2M4.

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Parking at Queen Elizabeth Park

You can enter either from Cambie Street at West 29th or 33rd avenues, or from Main Street at East 33rd Avenue.

There are five parking lots within the Queen Elizabeth Park:

1.    At the right of W 33rd Avenue.

2.    QE Park Pitch & Putt Parking Lot

3.    Seasons in the Park – Valet parking

4.    Nat Bailey Stadium Parking Lot from Midlothian Ave.

5.    Nat Bailey Stadium Parking Lot from Ontario Street.

Parking Rates:

May 1 to September 30

• $3.65 per hour
• $13.50 per day

October 1 to April 30

•  $2.65 per hour
•  $7.25 per day

Annual pass: $160

Prices are subject to change.

Public Street Parking Spots Near Queen Elizabeth Park:

• 275 Midlothian Avenue
• 383 Midlothian Avenue 
• 468 West 28th Avenue
• 4438 Yukon Street
• Dinmont Avenue

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