#57: China Creek North Park

“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.“

This was our initial impression of China Creek South, with an original ranking of 112th, and we are happy to say that initial impressions can be deceiving.

True, the middle of China Creek is, ultimately, Just Another Big Field, one without a lot of protection from the fairly busy East 6th Avenue to the north.

But it’s the areas on the perimeter that make China Creek work, most of which were part of renovations that happened from 2019 to 2021. There’s a new playground with a steep slide, but also with some smaller play structures good for kids under 5. And it integrates in well with 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 there’s still space for a giant toboggan slope that is one of the best in the city the three days a year where it’s possible to use it. 

There’s also a new washroom, 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. 

That’s not to say China Creek North is an amazing park — but it has plenty of things worth visiting for different age groups, and we heartily concede our initial error in assessing a park that is going to get more and more use as the industrial areas to its north continue to evolve.