Burnaby Mountain Park.

There are few places in Metro Vancouver where the reward-to-effort ratio is as generous as the top of Burnaby Mountain. You drive almost all the way up, step out of the car and within a couple of minutes you are standing on a broad grassy shoulder with Burrard Inlet far below, the North Shore peaks stacked across the water and, on a clear day, the first snow showing on their summits.

Autumn adds a warm foreground to that view. Scattered maples and birches on the slopes turn gold and orange, and the lawn itself takes on a soft, worn green that makes the carved poles of the Kamui Mintara stand out even more sharply against the sky. These tall cedar sculptures, a gift from Burnaby’s sister city in Japan, are the park’s signature image, and photographers come back year after year to catch them with low afternoon light behind.

A pleasant loop is to park near Centennial Way, wander the rose garden and the viewpoint, then follow the paved path east toward the restaurant before cutting back across the lawn. That takes half an hour at a dawdle. If you want trees rather than views, several trails plunge into the forest on the north side, where bigleaf maple leaves the size of dinner plates carpet the ground beneath Douglas firs; just expect steep sections and plan to climb back up.

Families tend to settle on the lawn, where there is room to run, benches to sit, and a playground tucked near the parking area. The caveat is exposure: it is noticeably cooler up here, the wind picks up in the afternoon, and the lower trails turn to mud quickly once the rain sets in. Check the City of Burnaby page for any trail or parking notices before you go.