Take a Deep Walk
LIVE TRAIL MAP
BowenTrails is an online map with features to spark discovery of our pathways, history and nature. It works on a mobile phone, so it’s available wherever you can pick up a cell signal. We also feature PDFs for those areas where the cell doesn’t work.
BOWEN HERITAGE TRAIL
The Bowen Heritage Trail features ten trail posts where you can find historical info and links to an online collection of photos and stories related to each location. The short circle route visits the Lagoon, Mannion Bay, Bridal Veil Falls and other places that looked very different back in the day.
ANIMALS – BY KIDS
The students of Montroyal Elementary School in North Vancouver and their teacher Jeff Teed have completed a series of websites about animals that live on or around Bowen Island. We’ve collected them here – twelve animals each have their own site.
We make no claims about the accuracy of this map, as it is a work in progress and we have several sources of map data that don’t always match. Please always let someone know where you’re going, and follow safety advice.
Heritage Trail
Shopping
Municipal park
Provincial park
Crown land
Nature reserve
Private land
Note: when using search box always include ‘bowen island bc’ or you’ll search the whole world. Results vary in usefulness.
Like it? Hike it!
Advice from the
Bowen Island Rotary Club
Welcome to the Island of Walks!
This is a local initiative to show both visitors and residents of Bowen Island the amazing variety of walks that the island has to offer. All the trails shown are on public property and many have signs and/or arrows. We have made our maps as accurate as possible but please rely on your common sense!
In the PDF maps created by Bowen Island Rotary, we haven’t mentioned the flora and fauna encountered on each walk unless there is something exceptional to note, as here on the West coast, you are sure to see ferns and salal beside the paths with some exceptional mosses and fungi, and a mixture of maple, alder, cedar, old- and new-growth Douglas fir and hemlock around you on almost every walk.
Critters
You will probably see ravens, crows, herons, gulls and eagles including turkey vultures circling above, and nearer eye level maybe an owl, pileated woodpeckers at work on rotten trunks, geese and ducks on the water, finches and various other smaller birds in the bushes.
It is likely you will see some deer, and if you are lucky an otter, and very early in the morning maybe a beaver at work on a dam on a creek. Usually there are no bears, cougars, coyotes or any other major predators on the island, but from time to time they do make the trip.
Gearing Up
We suggest the following:
1. Wear good hiking shoes or runners, or in the summer, good hiking sandals.
2. Come prepared with a cell phone (although cell phone access is spotty on the island), a sweater and rain cover if the weather looks at all doubtful. Carry a snack and water. A hat is advisable in the summer, plus mosquito protection and sunscreen. In the winter, wear a good fleece, gloves and a tuque.
3. Dogs must be leashed on most trails and beaches.
4. This island is not flat, so most walks include hills, some steeper than others. This means that during rainy periods or immediately after, some of the steep trails become waterfalls!