Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park
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Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park
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 The Little Qualicum Falls |
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| location | British Columbia (Canada) | |
| surface | 4.4 km² | |
| WDPA ID | 65267 | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 18 ′ N , 124 ° 35 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | Dec 20, 1940 | |
| administration | BC parks | |
The Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park is a 440 hectare Provincial Park in the Canadian province of British Columbia . It is located about 15 kilometers west of Qualicum Beach , relatively in the center of Vancouver Island and can be reached via Highway 4 . The park is located in the Regional District of Nanaimo .
investment
The park takes its name from the waterfall of the same name . The water of the Little Qualicum River falls 17 meters down, only to fall another 5 meters downstream at the Lower Little Qualicum Falls. The park stretches between Mount Wesley in the north and Mount Arrowsmith in the south. To the west it is bounded by the south shore of Cameron Lake , where it stretches along its south shore until it meets MacMillan Provincial Park .
The park is a category II protected area ( national park ).
history
The park was established in 1940 and named after the waterfall in the park. The park was supposed to protect the still relatively original Douglas fir forests. However, some of the paths, bridges and other facilities were created beforehand as job creation measures during the Great Depression.
As with almost all provincial parks in British Columbia, this one too was the hunting and fishing area of various First Nations tribes long before the area was settled by immigrants or it became part of a park .
Flora and fauna
The park is located in the temperate rainforest . Within the British Columbia ecosystem, the park area is assigned to the Coastal Douglas fir Zone . Biogeoclimatic zones are characterized by a fundamentally identical or very similar climate and the same or very similar biological and geological conditions. This results in a very similar population of plants and animals in the respective zones.
Here mainly the Douglas fir (called "Douglas-Fir" in English) grows . However, giant arborvitae (in the English language area "Western Red Cedar") and the West American hemlock (in the English language area "Coastal Western Hemlock") as well as coastal firs , coastal pines , western Weymouth pines and red- Alders . There are also some American strawberry trees in the park . Since some of the trees here are still relatively old, most of the trees are covered with epiphytic lichens and mosses. Here, too, the forest has an undergrowth of ferns and heather. The undergrowth includes the real bearberry , the Shallon pseudo-berry , the forest foam spar , the moss bell and the Oregon grape . The Pacific flowering dogwood , the heraldic plant of British Columbia, which is widespread in large parts of the province , can also be found here.
Numerous animal species occur in the park, the park administration claims to have identified 326 different species. Among other things, mule deer , elk , red squirrel , white footed mouse and mouse ears can be found in the park. Since the neighboring area is relatively sparsely populated, black bears , wolves and pumas can also be found here . Brown trout , rainbow trout and cutthroat trout are found in Cameron Lake and Little Qualicum River .
activities
One of the tourist attractions of the park are the waterfalls with which the Little Qualicum River plunges into a small gorge. Several short and easy hiking trails lead through the forest and along the river. Two bridges span this and provide a good view of the waterfalls. However, the park is also the starting point for a longer and more demanding hiking trail. The Wesley Ridge Trail leads up to the not quite 700 meter high Wesley Ridge.
Cameron Lake offers opportunities for various activities. Not only does the beach on the south bank offer opportunities, but the lake itself is also popular. Canoeing, waterskiing and windsurfing are popular on the lake. Due to its abundance of fish, the lake is also popular with anglers.
The park has several picnic areas. One of the picnic areas is right by the falls, while two more are right on the shores of Cameron Lake. At the western end of Cameron Lake is one of the two picnic areas, the second on the south bank, about in the middle of the lake. Due to the high number of visitors, however, the establishment of a third picnic area at the lake is planned. The park also has a two-part camping area with simple sanitary facilities. This offers a total of 95 parking spaces for mobile homes and tents, some of which can be reserved.
Web links
- Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
- Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park . In: English language website of the park at BC Parks
- English language database about waterfalls
Individual evidence
- ↑ World Database on Protected Areas - Little Qualicum Falls Park (English)
- ↑ Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park - Master Plan. (PDF; 274.31 kB) British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks , June 1986, accessed on January 5, 2013 (English).
- ^ Ecosystems of British Columbia. (PDF; 10.31 MB) British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations , February 1991, accessed January 5, 2013 .
- ↑ Biogeoclimatic Zones of British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, accessed May 4, 2016 .