It was a hot summer day when the family went to Garry Point Park for a picnic. On first sight I was rather disappointed by the huge dry field and crowded picnic tables. Walking over to the beach I was greeted by signs proclaiming that the City of Richmond Health department did not think the water was safe for swimming. However none of this seemed to dim the enthusiasm of any of the other park-goers present. The field was being used for regular kite flying and kite buggying. People were also playing on the beach and swimming despite the posted warnings.

After a look at the Steveston Fisherman’s memorial, which is designed to look like a giant fishing net needle just meters from the sea, and our picnic I felt ready to explore. From the picnic area you can watch commercial and fishing boats go by on the Fraser River, as well as get views of the Gulf Islands.

We followed the trail around the park, passing Scotch Pond first. Scotch pond has an interesting history beginning over a century ago. Its history is recorded on interpretive signs with some great archival photos. The pond gets its name from the Scotch-Canadian Cannery which was built on the location in 1899. At that time the pond was a slough and all of Garry point was a tidal flat. The only land access to the cannery and surrounding living quarters were a long wooden boardwalk built over the slough. Only remnants of the pilings of this walkway can be seen today. In 1905 the Atagi family built a boat-works at the head of the slough. It was famous for its quality of boats for the next 35 years. In the 1950’s the slough was dredged and a group of fishermen build the net shed and floats that we can see today. The pond is a safe moorage for fishing boats to this day.

The path winds around the park with benches and lovely views of the beaches and many flowers growing wild along the shore. We passed several groups of painters who had set up to do both floral and seascape paintings. We returned to the picnic area and looked at the Kuno Garden. The garden is named after Gihei Kuno, the first Japanese immigrant from Wakayama prefecture in Japan. He was the first of what became a thriving Japanese community in the area. The garden was dedicated in 1989 when the park was opened, but does not look like it was well maintained. Despite this it was a shady oasis on a very hot day. Many small birds had similar ideas and we watched them in the ornamental trees while we relaxed.

Deciding we wanted a longer walk we then went north on the West Dyke Trail. This trail follows the dyke from Garry Point to Terra Nova Rural Park, but we did not go that far before turning around. The trail is atop the Dyke with the Sturgeon Banks marsh on the west and residential areas of the city of Richmond on the east. On the east side there were often ponds filled with bright water-lilies and families of ducks. To the west were lush wildflowers and cattails making the land appear much more solid than it is in reality.

Both the Garry Point paths and the West Dyke Trail are wheelchair accessible and the flat gravel would be good for strollers or bicycles. The paths in Garry point total around 2.5 km, while the West Dyke Trail is 5.5 km long. There are many benches along the route. Garry Point also has washrooms, picnic tables and a concession.