Williams Park in Langley is best known for its annual Christmas events. Every year there is a light display as well as hay rides, visits from Santa and dance performances. It was a very different scene when we arrived on a sunny Sunday afternoon. There were many families enjoying the river as well as the picnic areas.

Williams Park was originally a retirement property for Dr. Don Williams, who had been the Dean of Medicine at UBC. He and his family rejected offers from American real estate developers who wanted to subdivide the land. Instead they proceeded to plant various trees, shrubs and over 20 varieties of rhododendrons which they imported from the Royal Horticulture Gardens in England. They also left much of the 44 acres in its natural state, thus protecting the Salmon River. In 1964 Dr. Williams approached the Township of Langley about the property becoming a park. The park was opened in 1967.

The Salmon River is considered an important habitat for spawning salmon in the lower mainland. The park has been the site of several salmon enhancement programs involving trinity Western University, the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Salmon River Enhancement Society. There is a large pavilion with information about these projects as well as other information about salmon.

The park itself has a large covered picnic area with a barbeque area that would be perfect for big groups as well as many other smaller picnic sites. There are grassy areas which we saw being used for picnics, bocce, badminton, soccer and catch. There also is a play area for children, which is shady and cool even on a hot summer day. This area is wheelchair and stroller accessible. The park would be a great place for a school field trip, family reunion or company picnic.

The gardens and picnic areas are on one side of the Salmon River, while the treed trail is on the other side, over a lovely white bridge which I have used as this sites banner. The Trails on the far side of the river are much more extensive then is shown on the park map. There are several side branches of trails as well as paths leading out of the park. Some of these narrow paths are rough with roots and rocks on them, but still easy to walk. I would suggest wearing pants on the walk as I accidently brushed against some stinging nettle on the narrowest trails. Walking trough all the trails we found took around an hour.

On a summer weekend the park was busy. There were other people on the trails and many families wading and playing in the river. The sounds of birds were often joined with other sounds of families in the park. I am sure on other days the park would be a much quieter place.