This 53-acre park is a Vancouver oasis, sitting at the highest point in the city, 153 meters above sea level and appropriately named Little Mountain. Here you’ll find beautifully maintained grounds plus 20 tennis courts, pitch and putt golf, lawn bowling greens, an upscale restaurant, and a conservatory that crowns the mountain in an impressive plexiglass triodetic dome. At the summit, the panoramic views are spectacular.

The park is really an early lesson in alternative land use since its ornamental gardens, rockeries and winding streams, are planted in two reclaimed quarries. And the courts and parking lots actually lie over one of Vancouver’s most important reservoirs.

If you’re an early riser, you can join the throngs of Tai Chi enthusiasts who welcome each day with a little mountain gathering, stretching in unified motion and meditation - a reminder than Vancouver is very much an Asian city. And if you’re an X-Files fan, it all started here. The pilot episode (“The Graveyard”) was filmed across the architectural paving outside the Bloedel Conservatory.

The conservatory itself is well worth the price of admission. Once inside, you’re immediately struck by the sounds, smells, sights and humidity of a tropical paradise with more than 500 species of exotic plants from jungle to desert environments.  Small waterfalls drop into ponds where Japanese Koi carp swim and colorful birds fill your field of vision with motion. There are approximately 50 different kinds of tropical birds, and almost 160 birds fly about freely. Three full time staff carry out plant and animal care, and predatory insects provide insect control, making the use of pesticide sprays unnecessary.