Beach Estates Park

A magical trail following a creek, with lots of ferns, bridges and little pools.

Most of this park is the trail, leading down to a small pebbly beach on the ocean, only a stone's throw from the BC Ferries docking bay (it's not a pristine view, but it's nice enough). Most of the trail is at the bottom of a ravine, with the backs of houses sometimes appearing high above.

The whole length of the pathway is well maintained with staircases, bridges, and retaining walls, which is good because there's a lot of elevation change. There are probably some hardcore joggers who come to this trail to get an intense 15-min workout.

This is a dark and sometimes hazardous trail, so take caution. My favourite experience along the trail was crossing one of the bridges at night, wearing headlamps; the bridge had only about a quarter of its floor planks (it had been vandalized, perhaps, but is now repaired), so we had to make leaps of faith from one board to the next, hoping to avoid the three metre fall into the shallow creek.

Directions

Start from the Hope Lutheran Church on Departure Bay Road (across from the Tim Hortons and Cilaire Elementary; you'll find the marked trailhead in the church parking lot. The trail doesn't fork until the very end, when a right-turn will bring you out to Beach Drive (off of Brechin Rd) and the left turn crosses a final bridge and you're at the ocean.

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