Lions Park (combined with adjacent Gates Park) is the main recreational park in Port Coquitlam — 22 hectares of riverside parkland along the Coquitlam River immediately west of downtown PoCo, Shaughnessy Street. The park is anchored by Gates Park's major sports complex (two artificial-turf soccer fields, three baseball diamonds, an outdoor basketball court, tennis courts, a skate park, and PoCo's only outdoor swimming pool). The Lions Park side of the complex has three playgrounds, picnic shelters, a small-wheel skate area, and direct access to the Traboulay PoCo Trail along the river.
For newcomer families with school-age children, Lions/Gates Park is the de facto community gathering place. Summer evenings fill the fields with youth soccer, baseball, and ultimate frisbee leagues; the outdoor pool is open June through August and is cheaper than most Metro Vancouver municipal pools ($6.25 adult drop-in as of 2025). PoCo's annual summer events — the Canada Day celebration, the Terry Fox Hometown Run finish, the Labour Day picnic — all happen in Gates Park.
The park's location along the Coquitlam River also means it includes the Coquitlam River salmon-run viewing area near the Pitt Road bridge. From late October through mid-November, chum and coho salmon run up the river, and on a peak day you can see hundreds of fish from the wooden viewing deck. It's one of the best accessible urban salmon-viewing spots in Metro Vancouver.
How to get there
A 5-minute walk from Shaughnessy Street in Downtown PoCo. The West Coast Express station is a 10-minute walk east. Free parking on all sides of the park.
Local tips
- Gates Park outdoor pool is June–August; cheapest in the Tri-Cities
- Salmon run at the Coquitlam River is late October–November
- Free concerts and civic events all summer
- The skate park is one of the better municipal skate parks in Metro Vancouver