The picnic area at Golden Ears Regional Park is getting a serious face-lift - but it's at the expense of a lot of trees.

The southside parking lot for the picnic area is currently closed as BC Parks removes the picnic tables and improves the water system.

In the picnic area, a large number of trees have been chopped down and the area will be resodded.

According to Stu Burgess with SSG Holdings, the company that manages the park, the grass has barely been growing in the picnic area because of the heavy raindrops that fall from the trees - it has been bare dirt and almost gravel in the dry summers, he said.

The picnic area has not been renovated since the 1970s, and the work being done will level off the area, creating terraces. In addition, some of the drainage problems at the park will be mitigated.

All the picnic tables have been removed and will be replaced by concrete ones and the wheelchair access will be improved so that it is less steep, Burgess said.

The improvements are being paid for by BC Parks as part of their capital projects, and they are aiming to be finished by the end of October or beginning of November.

Many of the trees were overgrown and had obscured the view of the lake, Burgess said.

"[The renovations] will open things up - it'll be a lot nicer with the new grass," Burgess said. "I think it will be a big improvement."

Nature enthusiast and avid cycler and hiker Hal Maier was shocked to see the number of trees that had been knocked down to make way for renovations at the picnic and day-use area of Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park.

As a member of Ridge Meadows Outdoor Club, he spends a lot of time in the park cycling and hiking as well as helping maintain the trails

BC Hydro work

The park is undergoing other changes as BC Hydro is doing site preparation to twin its 250-kilometre electrical transmission line from the Interior to Coquitlam, passing through the south end of the Golden Ears Provincial Park.

According to the Ministry of Environment, there many be traffic disruptions as crews clear vegetation along the right of way. The electrical line upgrade is expected to happen in 2013.