Saturday, 9 June 2012

West Vista Park

Located on West Vista Ct.

If you like views even a little bit, West Vista Park's name alone is enough to make you want to visit it. However, I had another reason for wanting to visit. Back in grade 12, when I went to Rockridge, I would sneak into an empty lot that was right around the place where this park was marked on the map. It had an incredible view, and I thought that empty space may have since been turned into a park. But unfortunately that was not the case...


It turns out that West Vista Park had always been right next to that lot, but I had never noticed it was there. That's probably because it looks like this:


A bench, a tree, some cobblestones, some ferns, a garbage can, and a trail head. It's not too interesting... aside from the trail head. I recommend following this trail, at least for a little while. Here's what it looks like about 30 seconds in:


A staircase with a background like that?! Who could resist? I figured that it must lead to an amazing viewpoint.


It did! This would be the best place to watch a regatta from. I intend to return to see one as soon as possible. Also, can I just point out how lucky the people in that house are? I hope they know how lucky they are. They can sit and look at this view. The one thing this spot is missing is a bench.

This viewpoint was actually just at the bottom of those stairs. The trail continues after that, but it continues on a steep downward slope.


The view doesn't get any better, but I still wanted to see where the trail led. I got down quite a ways before I realized it was probably just going to Marine Drive and I still had two parks left to find in the opposite direction. So I begrudgingly hiked back up the hill, but once I got home and checked the full map, I saw that the trail led to what doesn't seem like anywhere. Now I want to go back and see where it goes! Maybe I'll check it out after the regatta.

PPR
Good: view, well maintained trail (with safety railings and grip)
Bad: lame main section, very steep trail, misplaced bench
5.5/10

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