Saturna Island is the most environmentally protected island in the region thanks to the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
Established by Canada's federal government in 2003, the park encompasses forests, shorelines, and intertidal zones on 15 islands dotted between the Strait of Georgia and the south end of Vancouver Island.
Nearly half of Saturna's land mass is safeguarded within this national park. In fact, the largest green spaces in the park system blanket Saturna's central heartland. There are also smaller pocket parks at Winter Cove, East Point, Lyall Creek (one of the last remaining viable salmon streams in the southern Gulf Islands), Taylor Point and Narvaez Bay.
The Parks Canada office is adjacent to the recreation centre on Harris Road not far from the general store. Talk to one of the duty wardens.
Or pick up a copy of the park's colorful visitor guide from the dispenser outside the front door. It includes a map, notes on hiking trails and etiquette tips on now best to be a "no-trace" visitor in this ecologically sensitive region.
Interpreter Athena George leads scheduled educational programs for kids and adults during the summer. Starwatching evenings and daytime outings in search of marine mammals and red-legged frogs are on the agenda.
East Point Park
The automated light-station, the quaint Fog Alarm Building (destined to become a museum-like discovery centre), two lovely trails, wild ocean breezes, and the good possibility of Orca sightings make East Point Park at the island's northeastern tip a must-visit.
One plaque here honours former lighthouse keepers Art and Mary Waldron, while another commemorates the Spanish discovery of Saturna in 1791. A shell beach is evidence of the island's First Nations history. The US San Juan Islands and Mount Baker loom in the distance, and there are magical sandstone formations on the park's south shoreline.
Mount Warburton Pike
A breathtaking viewpoint rewards drivers who tackle the unpaved Staples Road as it winds upward to Saturna's highest peak, Mount Warburton Pike. Park at the day use area near the broadcasting tower and delight in a widescreen panorama stretching from the Malahat hills on Vancouver Island to the San Juan Islands in the south. Binoculars will help in spotting bald eagles overhead and wild goats on the cliffside trails. From here, hikers can pick their way along the vertiginous Brown Ridge Nature Trail.
Winter Cove Park
The local Oystercatchers baseball team plays ball in Winter Cove Park during the summer. And on Canada Day (July 1), dozens of boats moor offshore as their owners join upwards of 1400 other hungry folk at Saturna's famous annual lamb barbeque.
Most of the year, however, the park is a quiet and wonderfully scenic spot for picnics and family outings. Relax on the sheltered rock beach facing the cove. Or take a hiking trail out to the lip of Boat Pass, a tiny gap of water separating Saturna from nearby Samuel Island, and watch as experienced boaters ride the tidal surge from the Strait of Georgia.
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