Talking Trees: Stanley Park Indigenous Walking Tour Led by a First Nations Guide
Description
Each Talking Trees tour is unique, shaped by the land, the season, and the stories shared along the way. Your experience begins with a brief land acknowledgment and gentle introduction from your Cultural Land Ambassador. Together, you’ll walk among towering cedars, maples, firs, and wild berries, learning how Indigenous peoples have lived sustainably in this region since time immemorial. Through engaging storytelling and land-based teachings, you’ll discover how local plants and trees were traditionally used for food, medicine, technology, and cultural practices. Your guide will share the story of the “Tree of Life” and its many gifts, including uses connected to transportation, housing, clothing, and ceremony. Along the way, you’ll learn how Indigenous communities practiced stewardship through selective harvesting and reciprocal relationships with the land, knowledge systems that continue today. Each tour is shaped by the season and the interests of the group.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your experience begins at the Stanley Park Bus Loop, located beside the Mini Train and Aquarium parking area. Guests arriving by car can enter the park from Georgia Street, follow the Causeway, and take the Pipeline Road exit at the roundabout. Continue uphill past the Rose Garden and turn right into the parking lot for the Mini Train, Aquarium, and Bus Loop. Your Cultural Land Ambassador will be waiting in the round, open-air wooden gazebo inside the bus loop. This is where guests gather, check in, and meet the guide. After brief introductions and a welcoming, the group will depart together toward Beaver Lake to begin the main portion of the tour.
From the Stanley Park Bus Loop, guests will set out on a guided walking route toward Beaver Lake, following shaded forest trails and pausing at several iconic points along the way for storytelling and knowledge sharing. As the group walks, the Cultural Land Ambassador will introduce key plants, trees, and landscape features, sharing Indigenous teachings, stories, and traditional uses connected to food, medicine, technology, and cultural practices. The pace is relaxed, with regular stops to observe the land, ask questions, and engage in discussion. The route loops around Beaver Lake before returning along the trail toward the Stanley Park Bus Loop. The walking portion of the experience takes approximately 90 minutes in total and concludes at the same meeting point where the tour began.
After completing the loop around Beaver Lake, the group will make their way back along the forest trail toward the Stanley Park Bus Loop, where the tour concludes. The return walk offers a relaxed opportunity for guests to ask additional questions, reflect on what they’ve learned, and engage in informal conversation with their Cultural Land Ambassador. The tour ends at the same meeting point, allowing guests to easily return to their cars, buses, or continue exploring Stanley Park on their own.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(91)
This is a phenomenal walk through a part of Stanley Park and Beaver Lake with insightful insights by our Squamish guide. We learned so much about the culture and practices of First Nations inhabitants and it was so much more real than reading about it in a book. Delightful experience and wonderful guide.
Thank you so much, Frank. We’re grateful you joined us for Talking Trees in Stanley Park and Beaver Lake, and we’re so glad to hear the walk felt meaningful and memorable. One of the most powerful parts of being on the land with a Cultural Land Ambassador is that the learning becomes rooted in place, story, and lived connection. We’re honoured to hear that the experience helped bring Indigenous culture, practices, and perspectives to life in a way that felt real and personal. Thank you again for spending quality time with us in Stanley Park and for sharing such a thoughtful review.
We had an absolutely amazing time. Our guide Ruby was a wealth of knowledge. We could not have asked for a better tour and it was a highlight of our 2.5 week trip through Alaska and Canada!
The tour was fascinating. Jayden (sp?) was so incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated to the subjects from history to cultures to science and more. The tour links the present to the past while focusing on Stanley Park's indigenous foundations. Viator should definitely offer more of Talaysay Tours offerings.
It’s wonderful to hear that the tour was such a meaningful and engaging experience for you. Jayden’s deep knowledge and passion for sharing the history, cultures, science, and stories of the land truly help bring those connections between past and present to life, especially within Stanley Park’s Indigenous foundations. We also appreciate your feedback about the broader availability of Talaysay Tours’ offerings, it means a lot to know the experience resonated so strongly. We’ll be sure to share your reflections with Jayden and the team. Huy Chexw A (thank you)!
Excellent story telling with a nice stroll. Our guide was fabulous!
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re really glad to hear you enjoyed the storytelling and the walk. Our guides put a lot of care into sharing the land, stories, and teachings in a meaningful way, so it’s wonderful to know your experience felt positive and memorable. We’ll be sure to pass along your appreciation to your guide as well. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, and we hope to welcome you on another walk in the future!
We were lucky to have two indigenous women share their knowledge of the land that Stanley Park is on. Both very connected to the land, the flora and fauna. I very much recommend this tour.
We were late and hadn’t signed the waivers and there was a welcoming guide waiting for us who was very patient with us. The tour was excellent and the guide Ruby so accommodating.
Hello Stephanie, Thank you for taking the time to share your kind words with us. We're delighted to hear your experience was meaningful, memorable and hopefully left a lasting impression. Being located in Stanley Park, we understand how difficult traffic and directions can be so we certainly do our best to accommodate everyone's needs. We enjoyed sharing time, knowledge and walking the land with you. We hope to see you again in the future. Huy Chexw A (Thank you)!
Guide was very knowledgeable and shared so much historical information as well as information about plants/trees area.
We are s thankful that you took time to share your kind words with us! We enjoyed sharing time, knowledge and walking the land with you. We hope to see you again soon! Huy Chexw a (Thank you), The Talaysay Team!
I really enjoyed the experience. It is not strenuous, flat walking. The meeting place is where the tram bus stops. Gavin our guide was fantastic, great to meet someone with a desire to learn about his culture and to share that journey with those who wish to “smell the roses”. Well worth it.
The guide was great! It was a lovely walk through Stanley park where I was able to learn do much about trees, plants, and indigenous culture!
Our guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic . We learned the many uses of plants and trees used by indigenous people for nutrients and for medicinal uses. Our guide also shared some personal experiences under the guidance of his grandfather who taught him the value of and responsibility to nature as a way of life.
