by Keith and Heather Nicol
Although Gabriola Island is a little over 100 km away we hadn't visited in many years so thought that with the good summer weather continuing we would check it out. We caught the 11:15 ferry from downtown Nanaimo and were setting up our tent in Descanso Regional Park by noon. We had time to spend abit over 24 hours on the island so decided to check out several coastal hikes. We really liked the short trails at Drumbeg Park with their open Garry Oak- grassland setting which gave nice views of near by islands.
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Heather walking at scenic Drumbeg Park
Also the signature setting of the Malaspina Gallery was very impressive--we visited 3 times and liked the area at sunset best since the eroded sandstone notch really lit up with the setting sun. Note though that the trail here is about 100 meters long but is very picturesque as the photos below illustrate. We also hiked the Whalebone Trail and the Trail to Sandwell Park but both of these are more cliff walks through the trees and although you can see the ocean these trails are not as visually appealing as the first two locations just mentioned.
We also had a chance to mountain bike and hike in the 707 Community Forest and we really advise getting the Trail map of the Island from the Visitor's Centre. This will help you navigate the maze of trails in this area. If you like to mountain bike and like easier green type trails then this area will appeal to you. I also used Trailforks to help navigate since all of the main bike trails are listed on it. We encountered many dog walkers and trail runners on our trip there although there are no ocean views , the varied forest ecosystems in this area make it a fun way to see the inland part of the island. Next time we go to Gabriola Island we plan to bring our kayaks since the Flat Top Island in Silva Bay look very appealing. And Gabriola Island has several other trails we hope to check out as well ... see you on the trail.
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