Bowen Island is a ten minute sprint on the ferry from Horseshoe Bay on the mainland. One of the best things about the parks here is that you are in one the moment you step off the ferry.
Visit the restored Union Steamship Company store, now partially a CRD reception centre, for a map of Crippen park as well as a historic walking-tour guide.
There are no provincial campsites on Bowen, but more than 1/3 of the 20 sq. mile island is Crown Land, and another sizable chunk comprises the wonderful recreational area known as Crippen Regional Park.
CRD and Community Parks:
Crippen Regional Park – This 240 hectare ecological reserve has a variety of well marked walks to suit every taste, including a 1.6 km. trail to Killarney Lake which links up with a 4 kilometer trail circling this picturesque bird sanctuary and once the source of the island¹s water.
Another steep trail from the trailhead leads to Dorman Point and a picnic site, or to Bridal Falls on Killarney Creek. Crumbling cabins, once formal gardens gone to seed, and old orchard trees are some of the history that you¹ll encounter on these walks. Prior to becoming a regional park in 1983, most of this land was a popular resort in the 1920.
Other park lands
Apodaca Marine Park – located on the SE coast of the island, access only by canoe or kayak. This small, undeveloped park was donated to the province by Major C.J. Matthews, in honour of his son, who was drowned in a tragic boating accident off Bowen Island.
Lieben – the land and previous home of Einar and Murial Nielson, now a summer working retreat for artists, authors, playwrights and sculptors. The land was left to the province for use as a park. The Nielson¹s will reads: “to be returned to the flora, the fauna and the ungulates.”
