It’s like the cover of an outdoor travel magazine: water so blue it’s almost black, a fringe of evergreens on the opposite shore, a long empty stretch of soft yellow sand.
With the salt-water breeze and the twittering of song birds, it seems like a million miles from the city: you could be on a beach in the Gulf Islands or in some remote coastal outpost.
You could be – but you’re not.
In fact, the shoreline at Barnet Marine Park is a hop, skip and jump from SFU, a 10-minute drive to Burnaby Heights and – at most – a half hour to downtown Vancouver. From points east, it’s an easy connection off Highway 1, Lougheed or Barnet Highway.
In other words: it’s smack-dab in the middle of everything.
But it sure doesn’t feel like it.
It’s this sense of isolation that surprised me most the first time I stumbled upon Barnet, and which has drawn me back over and over, ever since. On an average weekday morning, a visitor here might encounter a few solitary fishermen and a handful of local residents out for a walk, but on many days I’ve been the only person in sight. How often does that happen in a region with about two-and-a-half million residents?
The park gets busy – as any park will – on weekends and holidays, full of church groups and big family gatherings, but even then it’s no Spanish Banks or Kits Beach with wall-to-wall bodies.
In summer, parents like me pack up sandwiches and picnic blankets, and herd restless children down to the beach knowing the sand and water will keep them occupied for several hours and the fresh air will tucker them out for later. It works every single time.
My crew of two – now seven and 10 – beg to go to the “wavey beach,” a reference to the occasional rolling waves that come barreling in with enough strength to nearly knock them over in the wake of passing boats. When the water traffic quiets, so do the waves.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that this place evokes the feeling of some quiet cottage-country beach from a bygone era – it has its roots in the very early days of settlement in the area.
Ideally situated on the Burrard Inlet, the area was home to a logging camp that became a booming mill town. Dozens of families called the area home. Decades later, the city set aside the area for park development.
Some of the original concrete structures from the logging facilities are still visible in the park and a plaque to commemorate the history of the site was installed many years ago.
Even getting into the park feels like stepping out of the hustle and bustle: from the upper parking lot, a foot bridge crosses high over train tracks, followed by a spiral path circling downwards into the greenery. The air gets cooler as you descend, the noise of traffic on Barnet Highway becomes muted. By the time you’ve walked to the shore, the only noise is the occasional motor of a passing boat, the chatter of squirrels and birds, and – from time to time – the whistle and roar of a train coming through.
A second parking lot provides additional space for cars, and a driving loop at park level has space for brief stops to allow people to unload gear that they’d rather not carry from the lots higher up. The site also features two large washroom facilities, a large picnic area, outdoor showers for swimmers, and a caretaker hut.
There’s no lifeguard but there’s a roped-off swimming area and, depending on the tide, the water is a good depth for kids – so long as a parent is nearby, particularly when those waves roll in. We’ve found starfish and jellyfish, and I’m sure I’ve seen a seal or two out in the inlet, noses poking up above the water line. There’s room for sand castles and digging for imaginary buried treasure and laying out on towels with a good book. And when the kids are back in school, it’s one of my favourite places to walk, and think, and be humbled by the view – as I am each and every time I visit.
Barnet Marine Park is the sort of secret I want to tell everyone – because I’m surprised how few people know about its existence – and simultaneously want to keep to myself. If I keep talking about how great it is – how relaxing and peaceful, how free from crowds during much of the week – then perhaps the things I love best about it will slowly disappear.
But it’s a risk worth taking: the best secrets are the ones that give others as much joy as they give you.
Barnet Marine Park is on Barnet Highway, on the north side of Burnaby Mountain, between North Burnaby and Port Moody. Check out the City of Burnaby’s parks website for more information and detailed maps.
Christina Myers is a freelance writer and former Burnaby NOW reporter who now lives in Surrey, B.C. Follow her on Twitter, @ChristinaMyersA, or visit her online at christinamyerswrites.wordpress.com
