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.
Quarry Park Area
Headwaters Park • Quarry Park • Athletic Park • Crownlandia • Fairy Fen
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Headwaters and Quarry parks protect Fiddler’s Creek and Bowen Brook respectively, and provide a north-south corridor for wildlife. There are many easy trails, within reach of harder ones on crown land to the south.
In Headwaters Park, beavers play a game of blocking the water wherever they can, and people push back but try to leave them space to live. Above Headwaters Park is the Athletic Park, in name if not in facilities. It is the future home of the Bowen Island Logger Sports events.
Across the road south is Quarry Park, benefactors got creative and used blocks of stone to create simple but moody rockworks in circles and along waterways. A couple of picturesque bridges add another bit of flavour. The forest is relatively young here, trees are very tall and there is a thick canopy high above. Below, the forest floor is quite open in many places, unlike the thick fern cover found in Crippen Park.
To the west, one can walk alongside a road and then a short trail to a great viewpoint atop Bob’s Knob. Many a great double entendre can be made later when you tell the tale.
Crownlandia & Fairy Fen
South of Quarry Park is a stretch of publicly owned land drearily called Block Three – and hereby dubbed Crownlandia. This surprising area is over twice as large as Lighthouse Park, and if you want to get lost, this is the place to do it.
Fairy Fen is a nature reserve inside this area, a low spot that features a delicate ecosystem in a rare peat bed over four meters deep. It requires special care, so it’s very important to be a good sport and let the signs be your guide – not to use wheels (bikes or motor) inside the preserve, for example. And be careful where you stomp.
Find out more about Fairy Fen on the Islands Trust website >>
Outside the protected area there is a winding network of old dirt logging roads. Huszar Creek drains out of the fen, and the trail beside it reaches southwest to Cape Roger Curtis (incl. some road walking). There is some fairly steep walking, but it’s generally easy. Further east is Radar Hill, with a (private) working quarry near the top. Trails are used by hikers, dogs, horses, bikes and offroad vehicles. Several trails east of the fen show the wear and tear of traffic, and there are some African-sized potholes filled with water in the rainy season, which lasts about half the year.
All in all, it’s a great place to explore, if you can keep track of where you are.