Quick Facts:

• AllTrails link: Everett Crowley Loop, 2.1km with 19m elevation
• Difficulty: easy, stroller friendly if you stay on the graveled loop
• Traffic: heavy, lots of dogs
• Facilities: minimal. There’s a washroom placed strangely across the park on the other side of Kerr St, away from the rest of the park
• View: obstructed views of Fraser River and the plains of Richmond
• Overall score: 5/10

Everett Crowley Park is fairly large, no-frills city park with a big off-leash network of trails attractive to dog owners.

It was a garbage dump for the city until 1987 when it was converted to a park. But without reading about this history, one would not be able to tell.

On an overcast morning, we took the whole troupe out for an easy walk. We did the loop counter-clockwise, and we did not stick to the AllTrails loop which followed the graveled off-leash trails. Instead, we took the outer perimeter Garry Oak Trail for as much as we could.

There were some logs in the way but easy and fun for the kids to climb over. They kept looking for the next “challenge” to do. The trails were mostly well maintained and easy to walk on.

At the southern portion of the trail, we could see and hear the busy Marine Way and Marine Drive below us. There were peek-a-boo views of Fraser River behind sparse tree cover.

Junior and Little Bro were both doing very well. After about 1km, Little Bro was tired out so he got onto the back pack. Double-baby carrying FTW.

I unfortunately forgot to fold up the legs of my backpack carrier and accidentally bumped Junior in the head. Not enough to do any damage, but enough to ruin his mood. Things went downhill and it became a tug of war to keep him going.

Eventually we had to swap him out with Little Bro, who was rejuvenated after his rest, and carried Junior for a few hundred meters.

The trail took us to Avalon Pond, a small sanctuary for waterfowls.

There was a very short Avalon Trail next to the pond, which we successfully marketed as an “adventure walk” and lured Junior out of the backpack carrier.

With much cajoling and bribing with snacks, we finished our walk with each kid walking about 1.8km of it.

Everett Crowley Park is a nice place for a stroll, and the side trails provided just the right amount of intrigue and variety to keep things interesting. There was minimal elevation change, so it was definitely not strenuous. The number of off-leash dogs on the trails could be an issue for kids not accustomed to dogs though.