Lost Lagoon - A Lake That Was Once the Sea

Photo: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Vancouver Cruise Day Walk, a free self-guided tour.

You've reached the edge of Stanley Park, and this calm lake is Lost Lagoon. It wasn't always a lake. It was a tidal mudflat that filled at high tide from Coal Harbour and emptied when the tide went out. The Squamish name for it means something like gets dry at times.

The Mohawk poet Pauline Johnson called the cove Lost Lagoon in one of her poems, because at low tide the water seemed to vanish. The name became official in 1922. When the causeway carrying the road into the park was built, the lagoon was cut off from the sea, and in 1929 the saltwater was shut out for good, turning it into a freshwater lake.

The fountain in the lagoon was built in 1936 for the city's 50th birthday. Look along the shore for Canada geese, ducks, great blue herons and turtles sunning themselves on logs. The trail around the lake is about 1.75 kilometres.

Getting here: Follow the seawall to the end of Coal Harbour, then cross into the park at the Georgia Street entrance and walk to the lagoon's east shore, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Did you know?: Swans once glided on Lost Lagoon; they were brought in during the 1950s, and the last three were moved to a sanctuary in 2016.

Photo op: Frame the fountain with the downtown towers rising behind the lagoon.

Nearby: Public washrooms are spread around Stanley Park; follow the signs. Bike rental shops are just outside the park on Denman Street and West Georgia Street.

More on Wikipedia: Lost Lagoon · Stanley Park · E. Pauline Johnson

Lost Lagoon - A Lake That Was Once the Sea

Stops on this tour