John Lawson Park

 Located at the foot of 17th St.

Nina and I walked straight through John Lawson Park. We didn't stop. We didn't slow down. We didn't want to. John Lawson Park is creepy. Creepy in the sense that I was not aware that so many happy families existed. We're used to coming into a park and being almost or completely alone. Although we are trying to get more people visiting parks through this project, John Lawson was a huge culture shock. This also means that we couldn't take pictures without taking pictures of children. We didn't think the parents would appreciate that, so there will be no pictures in this post.

That being said, some of my most treasured memories are from John Lawson Park. For example, last Christmas, my Mom and I weren't invited to a Christmas day dinner, so we took our leftovers from the Christmas eve dinner we'd hosted to John Lawson's picnic shelter. We ate cold turkey with hot chocolate while looking out over the water. It was probably the best Christmas dinner I've ever been to, and it wouldn't have been possible without this park.

And then there's the flurries of memories from my childhood. John Lawson Park has, by far, the best playground equipment in all of West Vancouver. It's got a pirate ship, teeter-totters, a train, a jungle gym, a spider web, swing sets (a tall one, and a short one for toddlers), and more! There's even a wading pool that gets filled up and supervised from time to time over the summer months. It's a great place for toddlers to play in the water before they're old enough to handle the swimming area at Ambleside Park.

But when I was a kid, I spent most of my time at this park either by the creek or in the trees. John Lawson also has, by far, the best climbing trees in West Vancouver. They're all over the park. It's a challenge that will take your entire childhood to find them all. As for the creek, it's not nearly as fun any more. The game used to be to build a bridge over shallow water, but a real bridge has since been built. Now it's just another park of the seawall. 

John Lawson Park has been for years and will continue to be the most important part of West Vancouver for families with young children. You don't need this blog to tell you that. All you need to do is be there when the warning signals on the tracks go on and see the entire population of the playground rush over to watch the train go by. If you have a child in your life, they will probably want to go to John Lawson Park every day.

PPR
Good: picnic shelter, great playground, climbing trees
Bad: very busy, the bridge wrecked my creek game, the trees aren't as tall as I remember them
8/10