BC Driving Blog

Driving Practice Areas for Beginners in Vancouver & Lower Mainland

Recommended Driving Practice Areas for Learner Drivers

Beginner drivers need a quiet place to focus on things like controlling the vehicle before they can move on to more difficult tasks.

Over the years I’ve found several areas that I would recommend to people who are just learning how to drive. This is based on the lack of traffic and basic design of these areas.

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Burnaby

  • SFU – At night some of the lots are fully empty and pretty big
  • Burnaby Heights
  • South of Gilmore and Hastings
  • “Lawn District” – Just North of Brentwood Mall
    • Brentlawn Drive
    • Highlawn Drive
    • Fairlawn Drive
    • Midlawn Drive
    • Southlawn Drive
    • Westlawn Drive
    • Northlawn Drive

Burnaby Heights

Burnaby Heights can be a great option, although it won’t win the award for the easiest place to get going, due to the fact that many of the roads are narrow with a lot of parked cars on both sides of the streets.

However, it’s still a pretty quiet residential area that would be okay for a learner or brand-new driver. Watch out for traffic circles. These are difficult for new drivers and most new drivers do not steer a sufficient amount. You can avoid them altogether by planning ahead or by simply turning right when you get to one.

driving practice areas

Gilmore & Hastings Area

This similar area in Burnaby is much busier with traffic I would say, but still similar to the other area in terms of types of intersections. It would be for a little more advanced drivers, perhaps when the quieter neighborhood seems too easy.

I love this area because you can drive there for a long time and learn a lot about 2 way stops, 4 way stops, right of way, and practice your turning and steering at the same time.

It gets busy in rush hour but can be quite nice on the weekends and evenings.

burnaby heights driving practice

Coquitlam & Tri-Cities

  • The Coquitlam Centre parking lot (depending on time/day)
  • Cineplex Overflow parking lot (Lucille Starr Drive at Schoolhouse Street)
  • Home Depot & Costco in Port Coquitlam both have massive lots. Just watch for semi trucks because they come in at all hours of the night.
  • Town Centre Park
  • Riverview Hospital – The grounds and roadways are open to the public until 9 pm.
  • Sasamat Lake or Buntzen Lake parking lots

North Vancouver & West Vancouver

  • Sutherland High School area
  • Pemberton Heights
  • Top of Cypress Mountain

Sutherland High School Area

This area can be somewhat busier than the others but is generally good; busy around school hours, it’s much quieter on weekends. This would be my #1 favorite location to take brand new drivers when I was a driving instructor. You can mostly focus on what you want to learn and won’t have to worry about other traffic too much.

north vancouver driving practice areas

Pemberton Heights

10 out of 10 driving instructors would recommend this area in North Vancouver known as Pemberton Heights. It’s just another small, residential area with a bunch of stop signs and not too much traffic besides the folks who live there.

Maple Ridge

  • The parking lot at Maple Meadows West Coast Express Station
  • Golden Ears Park parking lots
  • Pitt Meadows Train Station
  • Church on the corner of Lougheed and 222nd Street

Richmond

  • Richmond Centre Mall
  • Riverport
  • Tillbury Industrial Park on a Sunday
  • Industrial Park behind Ironwood Mall (outside of business hours)
  • Annacis Island (weekends & outside business hours)
  • Bethany Baptist Church
  • The outlet mall by the airport (week days recommended)
  • Costco parking lot when closed
  • McArthur Glen on weekdays
  • Lansdowne Mall – early morning or late at night
  • Silvercity Riverport parking lot during daylight off hours

Surrey & Langley

  • Cineplex Colossus
  • Langley Events Centre
  • Surrey Sports and Leisure
  • Kwantlen College
  • George Preston Recreation Centre
  • Willowbrook Mall parking lot, after hours
  • Costco parking lot when closed
  • Otter Co-Op parking lot
  • Campbell Heights after hours

Vancouver

  • Oak Street & 25th Avenue
  • Arbutus Ridge
  • PNE parking lot between Empire Field/Roller Coasters
  • Hastings Park

Oak Street & 25th Area

vancouver driving practice areas

This seemingly random neighborhood around Oak Street and 25th Avenue (King Edward Avenue) might be a good option. You don’t really have a large area to work with and may end up driving in circles (squares). However, it’s good for fresh drivers wanting to just get a feel for things without worrying about too many pesky other humans.

It is surrounded by high-intensity roads like Granville, so make sure you know where your edges are.

Arbutus Ridge Area

This is another perfect location for newbies and happens to be next to an ICBC driver licensing location where road tests do take place. But, simply a nice quiet neighborhood great for driving practice.

Where to find empty parking lots

  • Schools, universities, colleges, certain mall parking lots
  • Church parking lots (except for Sundays and sometimes Wednesdays)
  • Superstore/IKEA/ etc.
  • Annacis Island (Weekends only!)
  • Mitchell Island Richmond (Industrial – Evenings & weekends only)
  • Superstore Grandview Highway
  • Wal-Mart Parking Lot in Queensborough