Vancouver Cherry Blossoms - April update

[mek]

Based on what is currently happening with the cherry blossoms, will they still  be around on April 16th and if so what area would have the best blossoms?

We are sailing in the afternoon and only have the morning to go sightseeing.  We've been to Vancouver several times so only interested in cherry blossoms.  If they're gone, then we'll sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast before heading to the ship.

[martincath]

Unfortunately there are a lot of trees in or even beyond their peak bloom already, with most of the local (edit - I mean the various ones that have been planted locally, not that they are native trees!) species estimated to peak before your visit - but if you check this page just before you come it will show you where you can still see them. AFAIK the consistently-latest-blooming batch is usually downtown in David Lam park, easily visited from any downtown hotel/after dropping bags at the pier.

Edited April 6, 2019 by martincath

[mek]

2 hours ago, martincath said:

Unfortunately there are a lot of trees in or even beyond their peak bloom already, with most of the local (edit - I mean the various ones that have been planted locally, not that they are native trees!) species estimated to peak before your visit - but if you check this page just before you come it will show you where you can still see them. AFAIK the consistently-latest-blooming batch is usually downtown in David Lam park, easily visited from any downtown hotel/after dropping bags at the pier.

So my original plan was to take the HOHO out to Stanley Park, but it sounds like that will probably be a waste of time.  Thanks for the link - i'll check it out next weekend.

[martincath]

13 hours ago, mek said:

So my original plan was to take the HOHO out to Stanley Park, but it sounds like that will probably be a waste of time.  Thanks for the link - i'll check it out next weekend.

Stanley Park is very light on cherry trees so if it's blossoms you're focused on this trip that would have been an expensive and pointless plan even if you arrived right at peak - there are a few trees grouped outside the aquarium but other than that only a handful mostly scattered about on the city edge. A transit pass and a SkyTrain/bus ride toward the 'burbs will be much more productive (there are always pockets of trees that last longer than others due to microclimates - for example our own building has one tree that always pops later than the others due to more shade from the next building over - so odd clumps can usually be found nearer the end of the month, like out at SFU's Burnaby campus which is on a hill with nooks & crannies that get more or less sun than places just a few yards away).

 

Queen Elizabeth Park is probably the best of the Vancouver parks for volume of cherry trees. That's where the big picnic is every year - and it's scheduled just 3 days before you arrive so if the blossoms look good that day (there will be tons of photos on social media as well as the website) there's a chance you could still see a pretty good show there... but personally the best view I've ever seem of cherry blossoms is along some of the small East-West streets on the east side of Vancouver.

 

There are extensive plantings of the same species along multiple blocks of the smaller roads, and most of them pop at the same time as each other - I've literally parked the car at times just to soak in the view of an entire street just exploding with pink. SkyTrain to Commercial, Renfrew or Rupert and a northbound bus getting off at 1st Ave should see you passing many potential sites. Graveley Street, 1 block north of 1st, possibly has the most trees - but I think I was on 3rd Ave the first time I was moved enough to pull the car over.  Assuming there are any left in bloom, you really could not go wrong with this neck of the woods - but it does seem like this year things are running a bit early with a lot of March colour, and I've been annoyed by idiots walking into traffic to take photos of trees for over two weeks (normally doesn't start until into April, so I'm ballparking us as at least a week ahead of a typical year).

[mek]

33 minutes ago, martincath said:

Stanley Park is very light on cherry trees so if it's blossoms you're focused on this trip that would have been an expensive and pointless plan even if you arrived right at peak - there are a few trees grouped outside the aquarium but other than that only a handful mostly scattered about on the city edge. A transit pass and a SkyTrain/bus ride toward the 'burbs will be much more productive (there are always pockets of trees that last longer than others due to microclimates - for example our own building has one tree that always pops later than the others due to more shade from the next building over - so odd clumps can usually be found nearer the end of the month, like out at SFU's Burnaby campus which is on a hill with nooks & crannies that get more or less sun than places just a few yards away).

 

Queen Elizabeth Park is probably the best of the Vancouver parks for volume of cherry trees. That's where the big picnic is every year - and it's scheduled just 3 days before you arrive so if the blossoms look good that day (there will be tons of photos on social media as well as the website) there's a chance you could still see a pretty good show there... but personally the best view I've ever seem of cherry blossoms is along some of the small East-West streets on the east side of Vancouver.

 

There are extensive plantings of the same species along multiple blocks of the smaller roads, and most of them pop at the same time as each other - I've literally parked the car at times just to soak in the view of an entire street just exploding with pink. SkyTrain to Commercial, Renfrew or Rupert and a northbound bus getting off at 1st Ave should see you passing many potential sites. Graveley Street, 1 block north of 1st, possibly has the most trees - but I think I was on 3rd Ave the first time I was moved enough to pull the car over.  Assuming there are any left in bloom, you really could not go wrong with this neck of the woods - but it does seem like this year things are running a bit early with a lot of March colour, and I've been annoyed by idiots walking into traffic to take photos of trees for over two weeks (normally doesn't start until into April, so I'm ballparking us as at least a week ahead of a typical year).

Thank you for the helpful information.