Burrard Peninsula

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Map of the Burrard Peninsula and Greater Vancouver region

Satellite photo of Vancouver region, with the Burrard Peninsula in the centre

The Burrard Peninsula in extreme southwestern British Columbia sits between the fjord of Burrard Inlet and the Coast Mountains in the north and the Fraser River and its alluvial plain in the south. Its isthmus is the lowland around Coquitlam Centre, between the head of Burrard Inlet at Port Moody and the Coquitlam River, a tributary of the Fraser.

The peninsula projects into the waters of the Strait of Georgia. From west to east, it comprises the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, the Como Lake-Burquitlam-Maillardville plateau of Coquitlam, and Port Moody at the end of Burrard Inlet. The western tip of the peninsula is known as Point Grey, and includes the University of British Columbia.

Neither mountainous nor completely flat, the Burrard Peninsula has been extensively urbanized, and includes the largest and densest populations in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and in British Columbia more generally.

The Burrard Peninsula (left to right across upper middle of photo) sits north of the Fraser River, shown here.

South Vancouver (foreground), with downtown at the top, all part of the Burrard Peninsula, with Burrard Inlet and the North Shore mountains in the background.

While originally extensively forested, since the mid-1800s the Burrard Peninsula has become essentially one large cityscape. Its largest remaining green spaces include Pacific Spirit Regional Park in Point Grey, Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver, and several large parks in Burnaby, such as Burnaby Mountain, which also houses Simon Fraser University.

The First Nations name for the Burrard Peninsula as a whole - or rather, for the long rise of land from Point Grey to Central Park, was Ulksen or Ulxen.