Cates Park Pier in Snow

Cates Park is a great park for kids in North Vancouver. It has an amazing play structure area for young children, and the beach has both sandy and rocky areas.

The park’s name in the local Tsleil-Waututh Indigenous language is Whey-ah-Wichen which means “faces the wind.”

In this article you’ll find the following information about the following topics:

Cates Park Concert Series | About Cates Park | First Nations Heritage | Cates Deck | Other Information

Cates Park on the North Shore

Cates Park is at 4141 Dollarton Highway in North Vancouver. It’s close to Deep Cove.

There is a lot of parking at Cates Park, which is good because the place is popular on sunny days in the summer. The odds are you’ll find a parking spot, although it’s not guaranteed on busy days, like when it’s hot and there’s a live outdoor concert at the same time.

The best way to get to Cates Park other than by bicycle is by car, not public transit. Buses do go out there, but it’s a 45 to 60-minute trip from Lonsdale Quay with at least one, but sometimes two transfers. That being said, parking in the area in the summer can be a challenge.

Cates Park has a boat launch and kayak rentals in the summer.

Live Music with Pedwell at Cates Park

Cates Park Concert Series

In the summer there are often live band performances on the weekends from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Saturdays in the summer.

The concerts didn’t take place from 2020 to 2022, but did in 2023 and 2024. The 2024 concert series took take place every Saturday in August. Details about the event in 2025 are to be confirmed.

2024 dates and performers were the following:

August 3rd, 2024

4:00 pm – Earl Jenkins, Johnny Hatch, EV Natacha
5:00 pm – Lee HayesSean, Schonfeld, Daniel Lew
6:00 pm – Joni Miller, Dave Crawley, Ashjuice

August 10th, 2024

4:00 pm – Eric Stanger, Norine Braun & Alice Fraser, Buddy Wayne
5:00 pm – Sasha Stanger, Jason Kealy, Charlotte Leguy
6:00 pm – Jet Lag

August 17th, 2024

4:00 pm – Evie Adshade, Total Gadjo, Michael Long
5:00 pm – Sasha Martyniuk, Cherie Summers, Matt Murphy
6:00 pm – Phrog

August 24th, 2023

4:00 pm – Ask the Wind, Jordana Delgado, Andrew Michael
5:00 pm – J.Syk, Shane Terry, Alfie Hebson
6:00 pm – Broken Speakers, Sea Goats

Click Cates Park Summer Concerts for more details.

Check out Free Outdoor Music for summer concert venues in Metro Vancouver, including performances at Cates Park in July and August.

Dock at Cates Park

About Cates Park

Cates Park offers year-round recreational opportunities. Amenities at the park include tennis courts, trails, beaches, a playground, picnic tables, kayak rentals, a concession stand and a boat launch.

In total there are about six km of trails within the park. The main trail winds along the waterfront and offers great views of Indian Arm and the Burrard Inlet. Trails in Cates Park are also dog-friendly, although our furry friends are required to be on-leash at all times except on the upper section of trails.

One unique feature of the trails along the waterfront are two shacks built along the shore. The shacks were built in the 1940s and ’50s and are reminders of Canada’s literary history. Poet Earle Birney and novelist Malcolm Lowery lived in these buildings.

Cates Park Boat Launch

First Nations Heritage

Cates Park holds important cultural significance to the Tsleil-Waututh people. There are reminders of this significance scattered across the park’s grounds. One of these pieces is the large totem pole that resides next to one of the picnic shelters. There is also a traditional canoe on display close to the totem pole.

In the summer, Cates Park also hosts the Whey-ah-Wichen Canoe Festival. It’s an Indigenous canoe racing event organized by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Artisan vendors are normally on-site as well.

North Vancouver is on the traditional unceded territories of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation has a reservation near Cates Park. The band owns the company, Takaya Tours. The company offers kayak rentals and boat tours out of Cates Park.

Cates Deck

Cates Park shouldn’t be confused with Cates Deck. The park is in the District of North Vancouver about halfway between the Second Narrows Bridge and Deep Cove. Cates Deck, meanwhile, is a wharf-like plaza in the Lower Lonsdale District of the City of North Vancouver between the Polygon Gallery and Lonsdale Quay.

Cates Deck is a nice kind of plaza. What makes it extra special, though, is that it’s one of a few places in the City of North Vancouver where you can drink alcohol in public. Adults can drink beer and other alcoholic beverages there, but not at Cates Park.

To learn about the relaxed liquor laws in the City of North Vancouver see our article about North Shore Alcohol-Friendly Parks.