A kayaker takes a break at Shell Beach on Prevost Island. Formerly a provincial park, it was a gift to Princess Margaret, who returned it to British Columbia for a park to mark Canada’s centennial year. Photo by Shannon Parker.

 

Leg two: the South Islands

There is no doubt the Gulf Islands straddle two worlds. The rugged wilderness and unspoiled vistas that define the islands are definitely at odds with those places tamed for residential use. The outer islands share the best and worst of both. If you are looking for untrammeled shoreline and mountainous scenery, Saturna Island is the beacon, made brighter with the inclusion of much of the island into the Gulf Islands National Park reserve.

Counter that with Magic Island Estates, a suburban-style housing development that was pushed through in the 1970s that gave rise to the sudden realization that development restrictions in the islands were non-existent. Steps have since been taken to minimize development on what is left, but the Pender Islands and Mayne Island share a similar fate that the vast majority of these islands are private property. On this beauty, access and ecological sensitivity hath no bearing.

Changing the landscape for the better is the national park, which has snapped up numerous properties on the Penders since its creation in 2005. While camping for kayakers on the Penders is currently limited to Beaumont Park in Bedwell Harbour, a new and highly strategic site has been added at Narvaez Bay on Saturna. A closed road provides hiking access to Narvaez Bay, while unofficial trails skirt the top and shoreline below Brown Ridge, a distinctive and aptly named mountain bluff that serves as prime raptor habitat.

The Narvaez Bay campsite helps fill a needed hole in a route of the area, but a site remains elusive in the proximity of Mayne Island. Marine trail organizers are hoping commercial operators can fill the gap until a new location is secured.

Coupled with that is the unanswered problem of launching from the islands. The BCMTNA’s focus to date has been on access points from Vancouver Island. While there are numerous island beach accesses, they are invariably meant for local day use. Parking restrictions are usually prohibitive, particularly around the few boat launches.

While the larger islands provide protection from the more open waters of the Strait of Georgia, don’t be fooled into complacency here. While potentially idyllic, currents can run extremely high and become dangerous in passes such as Boat Passage and East Point off Saturna, Active Pass and Georgeson Passage off Mayne Island. Many a kayaker has had to sit at Winter Cove to await slack current in Boat Passage.

Highlights are numerous, with explorations of Saturna Island’s south coast among the best anywhere for its cliffs, sand beaches, unusual rock formations and mountainous backdrop. Bedwell Harbour offers much the same in a smaller scale with a more developed setting of housing, moorage and marinas, while Mayne Island is best probably as a starting point only: it has little to offer in the way of wilderness. The exceptions are Georgina Point, Deacon Hill, Helen Point and Active Pass, which offer the most interesting paddling, even with the boating congestion.

Trail guide preview: the South Islands

With distances greater, camping options more spread out and a greater likelihood of problems such as currents and wind, care in trip planning is essential here – unless you plan shorter trips such as an exploration of Bedwell Harbour or Winter Cove.

Launches: While some paddlers could reach the Penders and Saturna easily from Saanich or Sidney, realistically most visitors will likely prefer to launch from one of the islands. Which one you start from depends largely on the area you’d like to visit, but equally important are ferry connections, which can involve multiple stops. Saturna, naturally, is usually the most time-consuming to reach. Launch options are marked on the maps to help with trip planning, but please note the ones with black icons aren’t official marine trail locations. For more information on these sites, see The Wild Coast Vol. 3.

Destinations:

Moresby Island. This is a private but mostly pristine island with some great shoreline to explore. It makes a wonderful side trip to a stay at Portland Island.

Bedwell Harbour. While hardly pristine, this is a nicely sheltered area that is one of the key four-season paddling locations in the Gulf Islands. Camping is possible at Beaumont, the former provincial park now folded into the national park. Hiking is possible to a lookout atop Mount Norman. A unique feature here is the trestle bridge that joins the two Pender islands (the only bridge in the Gulf Islands). Currents can be considerable through the pass. Beaches can be found at Beaumont, Medicine Beach (an ecological reserve) and Mortimer Spit north of the bridge. The campsite is about 14 km / 9 miles from Portland Island.

South Saturna. Isolation and steep shoreline have kept this area largely undeveloped, and consequently made ideal property for the new national park. The largest stretch of protected shoreline in the Gulf Islands runs 4 km / 2.5 miles from Trueworthy Bight to Taylor Point, where a sandy beach provides access to the ruins of an old homestead. Java Islets nearby are protected national park islets with no access allowed. At Narvaez Bay is the new national park campsite, with dramatic cliffs at Monarch Head. Adjacent is Echo Bay, a beautiful little cove with a trail to the outer point. Another beautiful beach and unusual rock formations can be found at Fiddlers Cove, part of the Saturna Island Indian Reserve. Consider a launch from Saturna Beach; stop at the nearby vineyard during your visit. It is 16 km / 10 miles from Beaumont to the campsite at Narvaez Bay on Saturna Island or 23 km / 14 miles to James Bay on Prevost Island. Note currents can be strong through here with rips off Monarch Head and Java Islets.

North Saturna. Winter Cove is a former provincial park now in the national park that offers a boat launch, picnic sites and trails but no camping. Boat Passage is best navigated at slack. The north Saturna shoreline is low bank to Tumbo Island, where you’ll find beaches and a scenic trail. Nearby Cabbage Island offers camping. Reefs make exploration interesting. East Point is prone to strong currents and nasty rips. Time a visit accordingly.

Samuel Island. This island is the largest between Mayne and Saturna and creates two very strong tidal channels to either side. The offlying Belle Chain Islets and Georgeson Island are part of the national park with no access except the islet closest to Samuel (known as Little Samuel) where day use is allowed at the south beach. Largely undeveloped land along this side of Mayne Island makes for interesting exploration in Horton, Bennett and Campbell Bays.

Active Pass. Exploration is a risky prospect in this narrow and twisting passage given exceptionally high boat traffic. Expect two large ferries to pass here on their way between Victoria and Vancouver. Keep well to the sides and monitor call-in points on Channel 11 to keep tabs on traffic (large vessels must call in before entering the pass). Helen Point is an unoccupied First Nations reserve with a nice beach, while Galiano Island is highly mountainous and scattered with provincial and regional parks along much of the Active Pass shore. A decommissioned lighthouse at Georgina Point provides a pleasant landmark.

Count the goats

Wildlife viewing that includes goats? Yes! Goats can often be seen scaling the steep shorelines of Saturna and Prevost islands based on the simple fact they have no predators and can’t go anywhere. But while interesting to watch they have a price: their voracious appetite includes the endangered native foliage, raising an issue that may eventually see them removed.

Other articles in this series on the Gulf Islands Marine Trails Network:

Introduction: Islands of serenity

Leg one: Saanich and Sidney

Leg two: The South Islands

Leg three: Saltspring and Galiano

Leg four: the North Islands