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.

Note: As of 2024, pay parking is in effect at Cates Park during the busy summer months. The rate is $3 an hour. The parking premium has been implemented to encourage parking turnover and give visitors, who may be many during this time of year, a chance to find a parking spot at this popular destination park.

The best way to get to Cates Park 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.

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

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. Fortunately, they returned in August of last year. This past year, each concert showcased about nine singer-songwriters. The 2024 concert series will take place every Saturday in August. The artists and performance schedule is to be confirmed as of early July.

2023 dates and performers were the following:

August 5th, 2023

4:00 pm – Earl Jenkins, Atlin Morgan, Flash Being
5:00 pm – Norine Braun, Cherie Summers, Steve Somers
6:00 pm – Frankie and the Bass, Scott Crompton

August 12th, 2023

4:00 pm – Simon Eaton, Ashjuice, Cleo
5:00 pm – The Seagoats, Sash, Juno
6:00 pm – Johnny Hatch, Token Rhyme

August 19th, 2023

4:00 pm – Charlotte Leguy, Daniel Sinclair, Andrew Zaghloul Blues
5:00 pm – Britney Cheng, Jennifer Hershman, Matt Murphy
6:00 pm – Jordana Delgado, Aunya Jayde, Lee Hayes

August 26th, 2023

4:00 pm – The_Small_Lebowskii, Sean from the Yukon, Ian Willmer
5:00 pm – Jack Lenoard, Dean Michael Smith, Math Club
6:00 pm – Eric Stanger, Jetlag, Phrog

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.

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 kilometres 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.

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.