Denman Island (Boyle Point and Jáji7em & Kw'ulh Marine Park)

Elevation: 65 m
Elevation Gain: 125 m
Denman Island is one of the northern Gulf Islands of the east coast of Vancouver Island. The Island stretches from Boyle Point Park on its south end, to Jáji7em and Kw'ulh Marine Park on its northern terminus. Boyle Point Park encompasses old growth Douglas Fir forest and provides pleasant views of Baynes Sound and the Chrome Island Lighthouse. Jáji7em and Kw'ulh Marine Park includes Tree Island and the Seal Islets, which are accessible by foot from Denman at low tide. Denman Island was named for Rear Admiral Joseph Denman, who commanded the Pacific station from 1864 to 1866.
My Ascents:
April 21 2024
Trailhead: Boyle Point Parking & Morning Beach Parking

After an “Amazing Race” 🏁 on Vancouver Island, and a birthday celebration 🥳 on (and on top of) Hornby Island, we decided to spend the last full day of our west coast adventure closer to our magnificent Airbnb on Denman Island. Fortunately, sticking close to “home” and hiking weren’t mutually exclusive! 😏 Hoping to see a good chunk of the 19-km-long island, we therefore decided to start our day with a short hike to Boyle Point, the island’s southernmost point. After that, we intended to drive north to Morning Beach, where it’s possible to hike to a series of islands and islets (Jáji7em & Kw'ulh Marine Park) that are just north of Denman and accessible only at low tide. After exploring the island from south to north, we planned to be back to our Airbnb in time to enjoy one last spectacular evening in the pool and on the shores of Cokely Cove. Because what fun would a restful vacation be? 😂

LEFT: 8-Year-old Mera and 6-year-old Penny decided to ride a pair of imaginary horses 🏇 as we hiked through Boyle Point Park’s old growth forests to Eagle Rock and Chrome Island. Eagle Rock proved to be a bit of a bust (and was disappointingly eagle-less) so we wasted little time before proceeding to Denman’s southernmost point, which overlooks tiny Chrome Island.
RIGHT: A lighthouse and accompanying structures due south of Denman Island.

LEFT: A trio of turkeys 🦃🦃🦃 on the island’s southernmost point. Don’t let 1-year-old Lillian fool you. She didn’t walk here. She made her Mom carry her lol. 😂
RIGHT: While Eagle Rock was bereft of its namesake raptors, the Chrome Island Lookout was situated atop a steep cliff, which put it at the perfect height to witness a nesting bald eagle 🦅 atop a beachfront tree! After enjoying the views of the lighthouse and the bird for a few minutes, our collective attention spans waned and we started the short hike back to our top-optional 👀 Jeep at the Park’s trailhead. From there, we drove all the way north (a whopping 19-km) to the end of The Point Road and the Morning Beach trailhead.

Penny readies her “steed” 🐎 for another adventure while Brianne and Lillian consult a map (that proved to be completely unhelpful). Fortunately, navigating to the Islands and Islets proved simple: follow the path and stairs to Morning Beach and then go north!

LEFT and RIGHT: Did I mention that there were stairs? Ah, yes – there were a great many steep stairs, which swiftly took us down a near-vertical embankment to the shores of Morning Beach.

Mera, Penny and a pair of fictional horses make their way north along the beach’s ample sand and gravel. For any Rockies scramblers and mountaineers that think that loose scree is annoying, I can confirm that long stretches of sandy beach are even more so (and that they also really suck when you have a sore back)! 😔

Rounding a sandy point, we finally saw Tree Island (the largest island in Jáji7em & Kw'ulh Marine Park) across a 1-km-long "sandbar." As we navigated the intertidal zone, we tried our best to keep our feet dry, knowing full well that the sandy walk back along the beach would be unpleasant with wet shoes…

Alas, it became clear that dry feet weren’t going to be possible as we “crunched” our way across barnacle-covered rocks and waded through 1-or-2-inch-deep tidepools. We only hoped that the water level in these spots wouldn’t rise significantly for our hike back to Morning Beach later that afternoon! 😬

LEFT: Mera and Penny explore one of many tiny seawater rivers we had to cross. Their discoveries included barnacles, mussels, oysters and sand dollars aplenty! 😃
RIGHT: Closer to Tree Island, the living seabed (“crunch, crunch”) finally gave way to a proper sandbar (disappointingly not the kind that serves drinks). With the Island finally within striking distance, Mera and Penny decided to put on their best “dork” 🤓 and “sass” 😝 poses, respectively.

Although Tree Island is only 1-km north of Denman, it felt much longer. After much barnacle carnage (“crunch, crunch”) and a few missteps into deeper-than-expected tidepools, we found ourselves on one of Tree Island’s beautiful sandy beaches 🏖️ (click to see larger).

LEFT: While the sandbar didn’t serve drinks, Brianne and I had been clever enough to pack in the last two “cold ones” that were left in our Airbnb’s fridge. After 4 straight days hiking with 3 little humans, I think we unequivocally deserved these beach beers! 🍻
RIGHT: Although we packed pizza for lunch for the kids, Lillian, apparently, preferred to eat sand. 🤦‍♂️

After enjoying our pizza and beer on the beach, we explored a little and discovered an elaborate (hopefully stable 🤞) driftwood shelter.

LEFT: Mera shows her little sisters the shelter. After milling about inside it for a moment or two, we noted something interesting in the nearby stand of trees…
RIGHT: A tire swing that was accessible only at low tide! Again, we put the girls in it and gave it a whirl, hoping that it was relatively stable! 🤞🤷

After enjoying the questionable driftwood shelter and tire swing, we decided that it would be best to make our way back to Denman Island before the high tide turned our hike into a swim…

LEFT: All my girls hopping their way back across barnacle covered stepping stones towards Denman Island. We soon reached Morning Beach’s northern end and realized that we’d miss the “crunch, crunch” of the barnacles underfoot. From this point forward, all that was left was a 1.3-km soul-sucking wallow 😖 along the beach’s loose sand and gravel. My back hurts just thinking about it!
RIGHT: You know you’re not a fan of walking on sand when you think “Thank God, a set of steep, rickety steps!” 😂

LEFT and RIGHT: After conquering the sandbar, the beach and the stairs, we made our way back to our Cokely Cove Airbnb for one last dive into its amazing, beachfront infinity pool. With overcast skies and temperatures hovering around 14 C, you’ll note that Brianne is conspicuous by her absence in the water… 🤔

My big girls and I freezing in the pool! 🥶 By this time, Lilly’s lips started to turn blue so Brianne took her back to our suite and got her cozy in some warm sweaters. After burning off the last of Penny’s energy in the pool, we also brought her back to Mom, who had her and Lillian in bed a short time later. 😴

While Brianne and the sleeping girls enjoyed the warmth inside, Mera and I put on our jackets for one last stroll along the rocky beach at Cokely Cove. 😍

Panoramic views stretching from Cokely Cove to Mount Geoffrey/Hornby Island (click to see larger). As the sunset on our family adventure, we soaked in the smell of the sea air, the call of nearby eagles and the glowing clouds above and reflected in the sea below. This family vacation was anything but restful but it sure was FUN. 🥰