Discovering Wonder from the Ground Up

At Cypress Park—one of British Columbia’s busiest provincial parks—two Discover Parks Ambassadors spend their days helping visitors slow down, look closer, and feel more connected to the natural world.

Annabelle and Katie are part of a growing team of interpreters working in 25 provincial parks across BC. Through hands-on displays, guided nature walks, educational programs, and simple conversations, they’re helping people of all ages experience the outdoors in deeper, more meaningful ways.

This summer alone, the program will reach 270,000 people—bringing the total number of visitors engaged since its launch in 2020 to more than 800,000.

Their work is part of a broader effort to restore consistent nature interpretation in BC’s provincial parks.

Once reaching almost one million park visitors a year, beloved programs like Jerry’s Rangers were phased out in the early 2000’s due to government funding restrictions. For years, BC was one of the only parks systems in North America without consistent in-park interpreters.

The Discover Parks Ambassadors program, launched by BC Parks Foundation and supported by the BC Parks Licence Plate Program, is working to change that, one moment at a time. 

Annabelle’s favourite spot to lead nature walks is the Yew Lake Trail. Towering yellow-cedars—some over a thousand years old—line the path. The largest known tree in Cypress Park measures 7.5 feet in diameter.

“Everyone gets excited about the trees,” Annabelle says. “But I like to stop and show them the Sundew.”

Sundews are tiny, alien-looking carnivorous plants that grow in the wetlands along the trail. They don’t pull nutrients from the soil like other plants—instead, they trap and digest insects. You have to kneel down to notice them. But once people do, they’re hooked.

“It’s what’s at your feet as much as what’s above your head,” Annabelle says. “You just have to be paying attention.”

One of Annabelle’s most memorable days started with a four-year-old boy named Bentley. He and his sister lingered at the Ambassador booth, transfixed by the display of animal skulls—eagle, bear—and eagerly answering trivia questions.

Bentley had questions of his own, too. “He was a kid who was just so into flowers,” Annabelle says. “So we gave him one of the wildflower booklets for Yew Lake, and he carried it with him along the trail.”

Later that afternoon, he returned to the booth to share what else he had learned and to say goodbye.

“I still think about him," says Annabelle. "He reminds me how small gestures can have a big impact.”

Katie remembers a different kind of encounter, one that revealed the healing power of nature.

A woman named Linda had undergone surgery and had been walking the Yew Lake loop regularly as part of her recovery.

That day, she stopped to tell Katie something important: she’d just completed the full loop with no pain, for the first time.

“She was so happy to share the news,” Katie says. “And I could tell how much it meant to her. That was a powerful realization, that when nature becomes part of your recovery, your relationship to it changes.”

Annabelle’s connection to nature runs deep. Her mother used to say, “Women should be outdoors,” and she meant it, leading bikepacking trips, hiking solo, and raising her daughter to feel completely at home outside.

“I grew up watching her just do it all—camping, hiking, biking,” Annabelle says. “It was never a question of whether I belonged. Of course I did.”

Those early experiences shaped how Annabelle sees the outdoors—and who she believes it’s for. It’s something she now wants to pass on.

Now in her fourth year at the University of Western Ontario, she’s studying Political Science and Geography, with a focus on environmental studies and geopolitics. People, and how they interact with conserved spaces, are at the heart of her academic and career path.

“Some of my friends grew up in nature like I did. Others have never set foot on a trail,” she says. “But those moments of connection are powerful, no matter where you’re starting from.”

With over 600 provincial parks in BC, the long-term goal is to expand the Discover Parks Ambassador program so that people across the province can experience what Annabelle and Katie help create every day at Cypress: a more welcoming, more accessible outdoors, filled with wonder, both big and small.

You can join DiscoverParks.ca to find your next adventure and help more people feel at home in BC’s parks. As a member, you’ll get early access to events, expert tips, local park updates, and priority invites to nature walks and community programs—plus a deeper connection to the places you love.