Showing posts with label Central Island. Show all posts
Qualicum Beach Walk
Qualicum Beach at EveryTrail
This week we took a break from trails and decided to walk as far as we could in the eastern direction down Qualicum Beach from the Hall RD entrance. We got about 1K and a half before we were turned around from the rising tide. Lots of tourists on the beach in July, but not when you go east away from the town. We saw lots of starfish, crabs, as well as an eagle and great blue heron.
Hemer Park Trail
Hemer Park Trail at EveryTrail
Hemer Provincial Park is south of Nanaimo in the community of Cedar. The trail is very well marked, and there is great signage throughout to help you know where you are, although it is not that complicated. It is a series of very large loops with trails that go between, so you can choose how big of a loop you do. The trail follows Holden Lake, which is quite marshy and sometimes swampy.
Hemer Provincial Park is south of Nanaimo in the community of Cedar. The trail is very well marked, and there is great signage throughout to help you know where you are, although it is not that complicated. It is a series of very large loops with trails that go between, so you can choose how big of a loop you do. The trail follows Holden Lake, which is quite marshy and sometimes swampy.
Cable Bay Trail
Cable bay at EveryTrail
Word to us was that Cable Bay was a popular trail, many local Nanaimoans frequent this trail. We decided to check it out. Trailhead: End of Nicola RD in Nanaimo My GPS wasn't working for the first 15 minutes so I don't have the exact stats, but even with a bit of playtime at the beach the whole adventure lasted about two hours. We didn't find a loop trail, we believe it is just one way there and back.
Word to us was that Cable Bay was a popular trail, many local Nanaimoans frequent this trail. We decided to check it out. Trailhead: End of Nicola RD in Nanaimo My GPS wasn't working for the first 15 minutes so I don't have the exact stats, but even with a bit of playtime at the beach the whole adventure lasted about two hours. We didn't find a loop trail, we believe it is just one way there and back.
Newcastle Island Trail
Newcastle Island at EveryTrail
To get to Newcastle Island you have to take a ferry, you can catch it at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo. The Ferry costs a toonie and within Minutes you've reached Newcastle Island. Make sure you are aware of the return times, last thing you want to do is maroon yourself.
This walk was a great combination of Beach & Forest walk. There was a board that mentioned the wildlife that you see in the area, but we forgot to take a picture of it. Archer did however sniff out some kids smoking weed in the forest, they looked paranoid and guilty but we just chuckled to ourselves, waved at the kids and moved on.
The Island is close to Nanaimo, so you can watch the city. There is good signage, in all we walked 8K in two and half hours.
To get to Newcastle Island you have to take a ferry, you can catch it at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo. The Ferry costs a toonie and within Minutes you've reached Newcastle Island. Make sure you are aware of the return times, last thing you want to do is maroon yourself.
This walk was a great combination of Beach & Forest walk. There was a board that mentioned the wildlife that you see in the area, but we forgot to take a picture of it. Archer did however sniff out some kids smoking weed in the forest, they looked paranoid and guilty but we just chuckled to ourselves, waved at the kids and moved on.
The Island is close to Nanaimo, so you can watch the city. There is good signage, in all we walked 8K in two and half hours.
Englishman River Hatchery
On your way to Englishman River falls, you can take a left at Englishmen River Rd, at the end of the road there is a trailhead for this fun one-way trail.
We walked for about 6K, one of the features during the walk was the Salmon hatchery, although we were out of season we'll check it out again in the fall.
Englishman River hatchery
Colliery Dam Park
The Colliery Dam is within the City of Nanaimo, the trailhead is easily found at the corner of Sixth and Wakesiah. It was a busy trail being in town and all, but there seemed to be a lot of different avenues that you could take, there was a quaint pond in the middle and some bridges that went over streams. We were able to do a 3K loop in just under an hour.
Colliery Dam
Ravensong
This dog path shares the same parking lot as the Ravensong Aquatic center right in the middle of Qualicum Beach. It's a fairly well used walking path by dog walkers, and joggers. It overlooks the QB ball fields. There a lot of little trails that intertwine.Ravensong
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