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Bowen Park
36 hectares of urban green space. Amenities include an outdoor swimming pool (summer), sports fields, curling club, outdoor lacrosse box, disc golf, tennis court, horseshoe pitches, sand volleyball courts, two playgrounds, lawn bowling green and an outdoor ampitheatre, plus two covered picnic areas. Also a Rhododendron grove with over 350 species!
Download the brochure for Bowen Park:
This activity is suitable for the following seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Buttertubs Marsh
The Buttertubs Marsh Conservation Area, known locally as Buttertubs, is a 22 hectare portion of a larger floodplain, once known as Pearse's Plain.
In 1985 the buttertubs wetland was purchased by the Nature Trust of British Columbia, a non-profit land conservation organization, founded in 1971, as part of its program to secure ecologically significant lands throughout the province. Buttertubs provides highly valued opportunities for outdoor recreation, education and the quiet enjoyment of nature in an urban setting. A great place for bird lovers!
Download the brochure for Buttertubs Marsh:
This activity is suitable for the following seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Cable Bay Trail
Cable Bay is a must-see for the mid-island explorer! Be sure to walk the extra kilometre to Joan Point Park at Dodd Narrows. Here you will find the site of a powerful tidal current. There is a lot of sandstone beach to explore, especially at low tide.
You can sit on the moss and watch boats as they are carried through the rocky channel, seemingly by ancient monsters.
Download the brochure for Cable Bay Trail:
This activity is suitable for the following seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Colliery Dam Park
Colliery Dam Park is 28 hectares. Over 2.5 kilometers of trails loop through dense wooded sections connecting the upper and lower man-made lakes.
The upper lake has three small swimming beaches which are very popular in the summer.
Caves formed during the ice age are accessible from the main park trail, but expect to have to do a bit of scrambling through brush to access them.
Access on 7th Street, Nanaimo or the Nanaimo Lakes Road.
Download the brochure for Colliery Dam Park:
This activity is suitable for the following seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Morden Colliery Park
Morden Colliery Historic Provincial Park protects features of Vancouver Island's rich coal mining history. This small, undeveloped day-use park contains the only remaining coal tipple on the Island. This concrete tipple was built in the early 1900's by the Pacific Coal Company and was the first of its kind in the region.
The tipple is all that remains of the Morden Coal Mine, which once thrived here. In its first year of operation (1912) the mine produced 76,000 tonnes of coal.
Located 7km south of Nanaimo. Access to the park is off Highway 1 on Morden Road.
Download the brochure for Morden Colliery Park:
This activity is suitable for the following seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Morrell Sanctuary
Located in South Nanaimo near Vancouver Island University and Colliery Dams Park, Morrell is a luch, forested park with a lot of life. There is a small lake where you can feed the cirds or bring a picnic and enjoy the shelter by the lake.
Also in the park is a beaver pond with wooden viewing platforms and a beautiful rocky viewpoint above a forest of Douglas Firs.
The parkland was donated by William Morrell in 1973, intended for public use and conservation. Last logged in the 1920's, the sanctuary is a fine example of a preserved 2nd growth forest.
Morrell Sanctuary is located 4km west of Nanaimo, at the end of Harewood Road (or Nanaimo Lakes Road)
Download the brochure for Morrell Sanctuary:
This activity is suitable for the following seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
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