Continuing our tour of some of the city’s smaller parks, William Mackie is a small space in a sedate area in the far southwest of the city, between the 70th/Granville intersection and the industrial area next to the Fraser River.

Walk down steps to the quasi-sunken area, and you’ll see a couple of tables, a playground, a small field and a small basketball court. The ample tall trees provide lots of shade, and it integrates into the Arbutus Greenway fairly decently. 

At the same time, the playground is both small and in need of serious upgrades, while the green area in the middle is a little too cramped for anything but a small family or friend gathering, or perhaps light play with children. 

Still, there are good bones here, and with the park board committing to an upgrade, (including new playgrounds and a washroom) there’s potential it could become a top-tier tiny park.

A big beefy park in the heart of Dunbar, Balaclava’s unique feature is its dark black running track, part of the training grounds for the 1954 British Empire Games (which youngsters will just have to trust was the biggest international sports thing after the Olympics once upon a time).

Aside from the running track, there’s a regular baseball field, a simple play area for toddlers, washroom facilities and an off-leash dog area in the middle. 

Plenty of amenities for plenty of purposes — but the park is so vast and so flat, with so little trees, it’s not particularly a place to explore. And the dog park being right in the middle of the park with minimal separation can create some tension. 

Your mileage will vary, mostly based on how many miles you like running.

Ask people what the best public golf course in the city is, and few will say something other than Fraserview.

Originally built in the 1930s and receiving a substantial upgrade in the 1990s, the course in the southeast corner of the city is defined by the large trees that line virtually every fairway, making each hole self-contained on the property.

There are a few views of Richmond farmland, but otherwise it’s the sort of course with doglegs and ravine crossings and changes in elevation that define the Pacific Northwest style. And the 18th hole, with a dramatic crossing across a gorge to a green in front of the clubhouse, is the stuff of postcards (or nightmares).  

Add in a solid walking trail and holes that are short enough to be playable for just about all skill levels —so long as you drive it straight — and it’s little wonder that it’s next to impossible to find a weekend tee time. 

A quiet meadow in the southern part of Shaughnessy, Devonshire is a large field with not much else happening. 

But! That meadow is so peaceful, with so many trees and so much green space, that it’s hard to be too upset. The trees and benches provide plenty of options for meetups, but there’s also enough space in the middle for an informal game of soccer or croquet.

And the demographics of Shaughnessy mean it’s considerably less crowded and more quiet than a number of other parks, should you be explicitly seeking such a thing. 

If you believe such a simple park should be given a lesser score, similar to other parks with minimal amenities, that’s your right. It’s still one of the best in its genre, however.

Built after decades of squabbling between the park board, city and residents in the first half of the 20th century, China Creek is dominated by a huge and ultimately generic field, with little tree cover or areas for people to do anything except sports or tanning. 

There’s been renovations on the far west side of the park, which is dominated by a huge hill that provides an excellent view of Great Northern Way Campus and the surrounding industrial area.

It means there’s a winding path through some plants, which is excellent if you enjoy a bit of nature, but disappointing if you want a giant toboggan slope. There’s also a new playground with a steep slide, which we concede we might have underrated. At the same time, the playground is fairly small and jammed awkwardly between the hill and field. 

There’s also lots of fitness equipment, and judging by the number of people working out when we’ve been here, it is to flexing what nearby Dude Chilling Park is to chilling — no doubt the ample amount of sun the park gets helping with that. 

Killarney has virtually everything a park *needs* — large fields, a playground, an area for dogs — but like a lot of parks that surround community centres, it seems very much to be a situation where amenities were checked off a list one by one to surround the building, rather than creating an interesting exterior that feels connected and cohesive. 

The baseball fields are fairly solid though, and the playground (minimal if fairly modern) has some mosaic art with fun messages for the youths. And the dog area is the largest field in the southeast quarter of the city, which is no doubt appreciated. 

Another example, however, of a community centre with underutilized outdoor potential.