Collinson Point Provincial Park is a

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...

Galiano Island Galiano Island (Hul'qumi'num: ''Swiikw'') is one of the Southern Gulf Islands located between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the west side of the Strait of Georgia, the island is bordered by Ma ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. It is located between Mount Galiano and the western approaches to

Active Pass Active Pass ( Saanich: sqθeq) is a strait separating Galiano Island in the north and Mayne Island in the south in the southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada. It connects the Trincomali Channel in the west and the Strait of Georgia in t ...

. The area is 24 hectares, with c. 500 metres of waterfront.

Description

The park shares a long common border with Mount Galiano Community Park, of which it is a ''de facto'' extension. Most of the remaining boundary is constituted by the shoreline.

History

The park was established in 2004, by acquisition from a private owner. Prior to 1988, the property had belonged to the forest company

MacMillan Bloedel MacMillan Bloedel Limited, sometimes referred to as "MacBlo", was a Canadian forestry company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was formed through the merger of three smaller forestry companies in 1951 and 1959. Those were the Po ...

as part of its Galiano holdings, which itself had previously belonged to the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company (which acquired them by colonial grant). MacMillan Bloedel built the Phillimore Point Trail which passes through the Park.

Geology

The main feature is soft

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group, frequently exposed, otherwise with a thin overburden of podzolic soil. The sandstone is distinguished by its flowing, rounded forms; these appear to be volcanic bubbles but are actually the result of erosion by weathering. There are also areas of shale. The topography is steep, with occasional small plateaux; the park is basically the sheer southern slope of Mount Galiano.

Ecology

Flora

The vegetation is typical of south-facing slopes in the Coastal Douglas Fir zone, intergrading with Garry Oak-Arbutus.

Western Red Cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...

(''Thuja plicata'') is abundant in the areas shaded by cliffs, and grassland is present in coastal areas. The grasslands and open woodlands have an abundance of wildflowers typical of this zone, notably ''

Calypso bulbosa ''Calypso'' is a genus of orchids containing one species, ''Calypso bulbosa'', known as the calypso orchid, fairy slipper or Venus's slipper. It is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests. It h ...

'' and ''

Collinsia parviflora ''Collinsia parviflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae (previously Scrophulariaceae) known by the common names maiden blue eyed Mary and small-flowered collinsia. This tiny wildflower is a common plant throughout ...

''.

Fauna

The turbulent waters of Active Pass are a major source of food for marine life, thus seals can be found here, as well as bald eagles and cormorants. Because the park is part of an integral forest area, upland wildlife is also abundant, notably

black-tailed deer Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all r ...

and

sooty grouse The sooty grouse (''Dendragapus fuliginosus'') is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to North America's Pacific Coast Ranges.del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' 2: 401-402. Lynx ...

Tourism

The easiest public access is by a trail that starts at the Mt. Galiano parking lot near the end of Active Pass Drive. The Galiano Trails Society has an agreement with the private property owner the trail crosses to allow public access to the park. The trail is signposted. There are no campsites or other facilities. Another approach is by kayak, and this is quite popular. Cave, Collinson Point.jpg Collinson Point Park Boundary.jpg Collinson Point Trail.jpg Top of the World, Galiano.jpg Collinson Point, view towards Victoria.jpg

References

BC Parks: Collinson Point Park
{{coord, 48, 51, 42, N, 123, 21, 42, W, display=title Provincial parks of British Columbia Galiano Island 2004 establishments in British Columbia Protected areas established in 2004