Jug Island Beach

Yesterday my diary was free of appointments so we took the opportunity to venture off the North Shore for a walk somewhere a little different.  We settled on a walk to Jug Island Beach in Belcarra Regional Park.

The village of Belcarra and adjoining park flank the East side of Indian Arm.  It is a slightly tedious 45 minute drive through North Burnaby and Port Moody to get there – and we end up a stones throw from North Vancouver where we set off but across the water.

Belcarra Regional Park has a couple of parking areas, one is at White Pine Beach on Sasamat Lake and the other is the Picnic Grounds which is where we are headed to begin the walk.

The road into the park is a pretty, winding country road.

We reach the Picnic Grounds area of the park.

The Picnic Ground is a very pleasant park area by itself, big flat grassy areas, loads of picnic tables, a couple of small beaches and nice views across to Deep Cove on the other side of the inlet and little Boulder Island sat in the middle.

A pair of Canada Geese enjoying a few rays of sunshine.

The jetty and boat dock.

Our destination today is at the end of a peninsula that sticks out into Indian Arm.  There is a bay formed to the East side of the peninsula called Bedwell Bay so we take a short detour to the natural beach at the South end.

Views up Bedwell Bay.

Mojo gets lots of swimming in the calm clean waters.

With great gusto Mojo races into the water after sticks and pieces of driftwood, you wouldn’t catch me swimming here in July, let alone February !

We retrace our steps to the Jug Island Beach trail and head along the quiet trail which starts as loose gravel but soon becomes the natural forest floor. 

In the forest we pass a dead tree trunk with extensive damage presumably from a woodpecker.

Another trunk nearby is much more recently attacked, with the chippings still on the floor below.

After another kilometre or so of weaving up & down through the forest we reach a small clearing with a pond, a great spot to refuel.

Further on we climb up through another small hill on the peninsula and the trail is dominated by giant pieces of moss-covered rock.

At the top of the second small hill we get some views across Bedwell Bay to part of the village of Belcarra.

Homes here enjoy private jetties.

Eventually we reach the steep decent of the trail down towards the beach.

A short distance into the bay is Jug Island, the beaches namesake.

Jug Island Beach is a small, isolated pebble beach no doubt a great place to sit and watch eagles, seals and other wildlife.

Views across to the communities of Woodlands and Sunshine on the North Shore.

From the beach there are great views up Indian Arm.

The outlet for the BC Hydro plant, the inlet for it is on McCombe Lake at the North end of Buntzen Lake behind the mountain ridge.

Views back across the inlet to the North Shore with Deep Cove on the left hand side and Mt Seymour rising up in the background.

Finally a video panorama of the views from the beach.

A really nice walk and a change of scenery from the North Shore.