A summer solstice bike tour on Denman Island

 by Keith and Heather Nicol 

On June 21 twelve cyclists from nearby Courtenay- Comox area decided to celebrate the summer solstice by heading to Denman Island to cycle and walk on the south end of the island.  Our group caught the 10 am ferry from Buckley Bay and were armed with facemasks as this is one of the BC Ferry precautions with Covid 19 (see photo below). By 10:15 we were cycling up our first hill on Denman Island and we took Lacon Road south which was a good choice since most of the car traffic heading to Hornby Island used Denman Road. Lacon Road is a fun rolling road to cycle since it is elevated above the water of Baynes Sound . You get periodic ocean and mountain views between the tall trees that line the road. We turned left at McFarlane Road which connects to the eastern side of the island and then turned right on East Road toward the Gravelly Bay which is the ferry terminal for Hornby Island. From there the plan was to carry on East Road to Boyle Point Provincial Park and walk along the scenic trail to the end of Denman Island. Allow about 70 -80 minutes to get to this entrance of Boyle Point Park if you cycle at a leisurely pace. But you can do it in just less than 1 hour if you have a return ferry to catch.

 

This trail is our favourite hike on Denman Island since it leads to an elevated view of Chrome Island Lighthouse. The trail is about 1 km long with a short side trail to Eagle Rock. Another bonus of this trail is the view of the eagle’s nest which is easy to find since you simply take a side trail to the right for 10 or so meters after you reach the end of the trail. The eagle’s nest is below you so you can look directly down into it to see any eagle chicks or adult birds that might be using the nest. On this visit there was 1 chick in the nest with some adult birds coming and going so bring binoculars and a camera!  In the photo below you can see the adult on the tree top and the chick just below on the edge of the nest. We ate lunch at the end of the trail and then made our way back to the ferry.

Overall the distance cycling and walking (1 way) is about 14-15 km from the ferry terminal to the Chrome Island Lighthouse viewpoint. That includes 1 km of walking,  2 km of cycling on good gravel road  and the rest is pavement. Denman Island has no shoulders for cycling but has limited traffic so it is an enjoyable destination for cycling (see photo below).  If you want less traffic go and come on Lacon Road but you can also do a loop which follows East and Denman Roads . You can also stop in at Fillongley Provincial Park which has a nice beach and small picnic area and some interesting grounds to explore. Our group used a mix of road bikes and e bikes. The wider tires of the e bikes performed better on the gravel and of course made short work of the hills that we did encounter.  Not sure how long the eagle chicks will be around so check it out.