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Ringed by a seawall and covering some four hundred hectares of forest, shoreline and gardens on a peninsula reaching into the harbour, Stanley Park is the great green heart of Vancouver and among the largest urban parks in North America. Opened in 1888 and named after the Governor General of the day, the park was created not from landscaped grounds but from a tract of dense temperate rainforest, much of which has been left to grow, so that visitors walking its inner trails pass beneath towering cedars, firs and hemlocks, some of great age, in a setting that feels far removed from the city around it. The paved seawall that encircles the peninsula is the park's most famous feature, a route of some nine kilometres followed by walkers, runners, cyclists and skaters, offering uninterrupted views of the harbour, the mountains of the North Shore, the freighters at anchor and the downtown skyline. Among the attractions scattered through the park are the collection of brightly painted totem poles at Brockton Point, one of the most visited sights in the province, the Vancouver Aquarium, beaches and swimming areas, a miniature railway, rose and rhododendron gardens, and the lighthouse and former military battery at the tip of the peninsula. The park is crossed by the approaches to the Lions Gate Bridge, and Beaver Lake and Lost Lagoon within it shelter herons, ducks, beavers and other wildlife. Created largely through the efforts of early citizens who wished to preserve the forest from logging and development, the park has been protected and cherished for well over a century. With its wild woodland, its seawall, its gardens and its sweeping views, Stanley Park is one of the defining features of Vancouver and a destination for residents and visitors throughout the year. The story of the park's creation reflects the foresight of the city's early citizens, who lobbied to have the military reserve on the peninsula set aside as public parkland rather than given over to logging or housing. Much of the forest is second growth, the original giants having been logged in the nineteenth century, but a number of enormous old trees survive, and a great windstorm in 2006 felled thousands and prompted a major replanting effort the public helped to fund. The park is woven into the life of the city as a place for recreation, contemplation and escape, and its blend of wild nature and accessible amenity, all within sight of the downtown towers, is what makes it so cherished.