We spent a few days on Saturna Island and we hiked trails and headlands in spring weather. The longest trail we hiked was the Mount Warburton Pike Trail. We drove to the parking lot and hiked along the top of the ridge. Except for the a peak on Salt Spring, it is the highest point on the Gulf Islands and …Continue reading…
At the end of winter we have sometimes taken a week’s holiday on one of the Gulf Islands to hike, paddle, and explore. One of those mid-March escapes resulted in walking and paddling in the rain a fair amount, with a few dry parts too. We got out every day with our rain gear ready. Arbutus trees by the water’s …Continue reading…
St. John Point Regional Park is a newly-established park, developed through the efforts of the Mayne Island Conservancy Society and the Capital Regional District. The trails are still under development, but fine for experienced hikers. We hiked a loop route and explored the shoreline and headlands wherever we found reasonable access. contFrom the trailhead/parking area at the end of the …Continue reading…
Brooks Point Regional Park lies at the southeast corner of South Pender Island. There are some short trails through the forest, but the best parts of the park are the headlands that jut out into Boundary Pass. The rocky points provide views south to the San Juan Islands, east to Saturna Island and southeast to Mount Baker. It is especially …Continue reading…
On the north end of North Pender Island is the George Hill Trail. All of the trails on Pender Island are well-signed with designated parking, but there are a lot of turns to get to the right spot. Here is a good guide to the trailhead – Pender Parks and Trails. We climbed the trail to the hilltop …Continue reading…
We paddled out to Wallace Island on a calm day, so we went right through the middle of Trincomali channel, but on the way back 2 days later, the winds were stronger from the southeast so we did a crossing of the channel right to the bluffs of Galiano island, then followed the line of cliffs for 15 km all …Continue reading…
Gulf islands National Park Reserve has 13 designated trails on several islands. The Mt. Norman and Beaumont Trails are on South Pender Island. Both trails start at the Ainslie Point parking area and climb uphill for 350m to a junction. The trail on the left leads to the top of Mount Norman. the trail on the right goes up …Continue reading…
Wallace Island Provincial Park is found in the Gulf Islands between the northern ends of Saltspring and Galiano Islands. It is a marine-only access park with anchorages for larger boats and landings for paddlers. Most paddlers come over from Saltsping where it is only about 2 km from launch to landing. It is possible to paddle from Vancouver Island, Galiano …Continue reading…
We camped on Galiano Island, then paddled to Wallace Island and camped there. While hiking trails, some widlflowers were spotted. Hover your cursor over an image to get a caption or double click to get a full-size image.
The Gulf Islands area has many opportunities for kayaking, using one of the islands as a starting point and paddling the bays, harbours, coastlines, and channels. We have paddled out of Saturna, Galiano, Cortez, and Salt Spring Islands, and recently out of the Pender Islands. With a short term decision to go to South Pender Island without our kayaks …Continue reading…
Ruckle Provincial Park is a popular camping location on Salt Spring, but the rocky shores make launching and landing difficult, especially for the longer ocean kayaks. Paddling books and websites suggest launching in Fulford or Ganges Harbor, but we found a spot in the park that works fine, with a bit of extra work. We parked at the day-use area …Continue reading…
Ruckle Point Provincial Park is located on the south shore of Salt Spring Island. There are 7 km of shoreline and 15 km of forested trails for hikers. The walk-in campground is on a grassy-rocky bench overlooking the channel. This was our base camp for a week of paddling and hiking. The entire south shoreline is rocky, but there are …Continue reading…
All of Jedediah Island is a provincial park and trails link up the various landing points. Although we landed in Home Bay we could have landed at any of the camping spots to hike across the island, We first enjoyed the hike over to the former home of the island's owners, then we followed the trail through the orchard, the …Continue reading…
For those who love to kayak, Jedediah Island is a destination for exploration. Most kayakers launch from the Sunshine Coast. Go north of Sechelt to Half Moon Bay for a good access to a short crossing to the Thormandby Islands. The crossing of Malaspina Strait from North Thormandby is 8km of open water and should only be attempted in calm …Continue reading…