Given the size of Texada, one might expect to find more than just one park, however, visitors must remember that as they travel further north in the Gulf Islands, the crowds drop off and the demand for recreational facilities is not as great. Furthermore, although there is only one regional park, recreational reserves, trails and logging roads throughout Texada are available for hiking and off road cycling, and exploring by car will also uncover pocket sized beaches and special bits of natural paradise.
Regional Parks:
Shelter Point Regional Park. This 40 acre gem of a park features two groves of old Douglas fir, a two kilometer loop trail that takes you past a huge Douglas fir (7 feet in diameter), to beautiful views across to Lasqueti and central Vancouver Island and a wonderful sand and polished gravel beach, where rock hounding can be a real treat. In addition, there is a recently expanded campsite here (47 sites) with flush toilets, showers, covered picnic areas and more. Located midway along the island’s west side, 27 kilometers south of the Blubber Bay ferry terminal, the park is also popular with the locals, who flock to it on a July weekend for the Sand castle building competitions, the games and the fun.
Other:
Bob’s Lake and Shingle Beach are recreational day use areas.
Recreational reserves at the Northeast Point (42 acres) and west shore (450 acres covering 3 miles of pea gravel beach from Cook Bay north towards Davie Bay)
Gillies Bay, a thriving community, has one of the largest south-facing sandy beaches in the Gulf of Georgia
