Viewing the partial solar eclipse from Metro Vancouver might have been a bust earlier this week, but there’s another celestial event coming up that you won’t want to miss. From April 15th to 29th, the Lyrids Meteor Shower will be visible across Canada – and the weather is looking pretty clear for at least the first few days!
The meteor shower has been observed for 2,700 years and is usually a spring favourite. It’s best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere as the sun sets, according to NASA.
Note that the peak of the meteor shower will take place on April 22nd.
So grab your camping chairs and warm layers, and get ready to enjoy the dazzling show. Here are some of the best places to view the Lyrids Meteor Shower in Metro Vancouver.
Spanish Banks Park
We’re starting things off with easy-to-access options right in Vancouver. And, Spanish Banks is the perfect mixture of convenience and quality. Its location offers unobstructed views of the skies above, and it’s far enough away from downtown to mitigate some of the light pollution.
Burnaby Mountain Park
If it’s good enough for a university observatory, it’s good enough for us. Pretty much anywhere on Burnaby Mountain will offer tremendous viewpoints, but the higher you get the better (safely). We’re lazy, so we’d probably just find a parking lot and hang out near our car.
David Lam Park
Maybe you want to be in the heart of downtown- not a problem. While you’re going to have interference from the highrises around you, David Lam does offer a great vista for stargazing and meteor watching. Plus, the central location does mean a couple of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ around you, for effect.
Wreck Beach
If you’re willing to brave the stairs and the regulars, it doesn’t get much better than Wreck Beach for watching the skies. The west-facing views practically eliminate immediate distractions from Vancouver’s lights. Instead, it’s just the boats (and there are a lot fewer of them these days) to contend with.
Cypress Mountain
In addition to having one of the best viewpoints in Vancouver period, Cypress Mountain (and the road up to it) is also a great place to watch the sky. For a double-whammy, we say that you come around sunset, then hang out while the sky gets dark. Sure, it might take a few hours, but the view is worth it.
Porteau Cove
Our final point is definitely outside of the city, but deserves a spot on this list. A short drive from Vancouver gets you incredible views of the Howe Sound from directly on the water. And naturally, its distance from any nearby community makes it a prime spot for stargazing.
