Let me just say this upfront: Burnaby is the most slept-on city in Metro Vancouver. It doesn’t have Vancouver’s PR machine or North Van’s mountain-town branding, but it has Burnaby Mountain, the best free park in the region, and a food scene that punches way above its weight. People live in Burnaby for years and still haven’t figured out half of what’s there. This guide is for fixing that.
Burnaby Mountain and SFU — More Than a Campus
Simon Fraser University sits on top of Burnaby Mountain like it was dropped there from above, because essentially it was — Arthur Erickson designed it in the 1960s to look like a Mesoamerican city, and it still does. But the real reason to go isn’t the architecture. It’s the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area surrounding it — 576 hectares of trails that stay green year-round and mostly stay quiet even on weekends.
The Pandora trail loop is around 5km and gives you views east toward the Fraser Valley that most people in Vancouver have never seen. There’s also a free Japanese totem park at the top with sculptures gifted by Burnaby’s sister city Kushiro — easy to wander, free to visit, and completely different from anything else in the Lower Mainland.
The SFU Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology on campus is also free and surprisingly interesting — it focuses on Pacific Northwest Indigenous cultures with rotating exhibits that don’t feel like an afterthought.
Deer Lake Park — The One Most People Drive Past
Deer Lake Park is 74 acres in the middle of Burnaby, and most people on the highway nearby have no idea it exists. There’s an actual lake you can kayak on in summer (rental boats available), forested walking trails that take about an hour to circuit, and a rose garden that reaches peak bloom in June — one of the better-kept secrets in the city.
The Burnaby Village Museum sits right at the park’s edge and recreates a 1920s BC town with costumed interpreters, a working carousel, and a small-town general store. It sounds corny but it’s genuinely well done — and free in winter, low admission in summer.
The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts is also at Deer Lake, hosting plays, gallery shows, and community classes throughout the year. Check their schedule if you’re visiting on a weekend — there’s often something on.
Metrotown: Beyond the Mall
Yes, Metrotown is one of the biggest malls in Canada. You don’t need me to tell you that. What most people miss is the neighbourhood around it. Bonsor Recreation Complex next door has a pool, gym, and ice rink at local rates — if you’re in the area for a few days it’s worth knowing about.
The stretch of Kingsway from Metrotown toward Joyce station is the food strip that Burnaby residents actually eat on. Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese milk tea spots — dense and cheap and almost entirely local. If you’re hungry after Metrotown, skip the food court and walk ten minutes east on Kingsway instead.
Central Park: No, the Other One
Burnaby has a Central Park, and yes, people make that joke. Unlike its New York namesake, this one is mostly untouched forest — 90 hectares of trails that fill with dog walkers and runners from the surrounding neighbourhood but rarely feel crowded. The track around it is a flat 3.2km loop. There’s also a pitch-and-putt course open in summer, and a small pitch-and-putt near Patterson SkyTrain if you want to play a round without a tee time or a lot of money.
Where to Eat in Burnaby
The food highlights are spread across the city rather than concentrated in one spot. A few worth knowing:
- Kingsway strip (Metrotown to Joyce) — best bang-for-buck Asian food in the region, no argument
- Lougheed area — Korean food options have expanded significantly with the growth of the area around Lougheed SkyTrain
- Heights neighbourhood — independently owned cafés, a real neighbourhood feel, and some of the better brunch spots in Burnaby
- Production Way area — less obvious but worth knowing if you’re on that side of the city
Getting Around Burnaby
Burnaby is well-served by the Expo Line, which runs through it east to west. Metrotown, Patterson, Joyce-Collingwood, Nanaimo, 29th Avenue, and Gilmore stations all land in Burnaby. The Millennium Line adds Production Way, Lougheed, Burquitlam, and Braid. For anything on the mountain, you need a bus — the 143 runs to SFU from Production Way station frequently.
If you’re driving, Burnaby has free parking in most neighbourhood areas outside of Metrotown. Don’t try to drive to Metrotown on a weekend — just SkyTrain it.
Final Thought
The knock on Burnaby is that it’s all suburbs with no character. Spend a morning on the mountain, walk through Deer Lake in the afternoon, and eat on Kingsway at dinner. You’ll change your mind. It’s not Vancouver, and it doesn’t pretend to be — that’s increasingly its strength.