Islands of Greater Vancouver
by Roger Parton, Additional material Don Watmough
The diversity of the region cannot be fully appreciated without a glance at its islands. Like the region itself, they are varied in makeup. Mudflats, sandbars, even mountains are all represented. There are alluvial islands in the Fraser River covered with cottonwood trees, islands in Howe Sound that are little more than barren rock, and islands in Burrard Inlet where parks have been created amidst magnificent surroundings. Some islands are host to small communities or ecological reserves; others are vast industrial parks.
Islands in Greater Vancouver can be placed into two basic categories: islands created by deposits of the Fraser River, and marine islands of Howe Sound and Burrard Inlet. Many were sculpted and shaped by the glaciers of the last ice age, which finally receded about 12,000 years ago. The islands continue to be shaped by the dynamics of nature. Some islands are growing in size due to river silt and sand deposits, while others are shrinking due to erosion.
FRASER RIVER ISLANDS Lulu Island is the centre of the Municipality of Richmond, all of which is built on islands formed from alluvial sand and silt brought to the coast by the Fraser River. Lulu Island was first settled by whites in 1866 and by 1879, together with 20 other Fraser islands, was incorporated as the Township of Richmond. By the late 19th century, roads joined Lulu Island to Vancouver and New Westminster. (Between Lulu and Sea islands is a small, undyked, marshy island with the charming name of Swishwash Island. Before extensive dyking and ditching to prevent flooding, many of the alluvial islands created by the Fraser River resembled wet, marshy, low-lying Swishwash.)
Lulu Island is noted for its rich agricultural production. The fishing industry is represented also-- the southeast corner of Lulu Island is home to Steveston, a vital fishing community in the Lower Mainland. Steveston Island, just offshore, was little more than a sandbar at the turn of the century. A rock jetty was built down the centre of the sandbar to help define the Fraser River shipping channel. The island was later augmented by sand dredged from the river to help maintain depths adequate for shipping. Today it is park-like, and worthy of the local name: Shady Island. It is connected to Steveston by a rock breakwater that is exposed at low tide.
Sea Island, the location of Vancouver International Airport, is especially known to travellers. This large, flat deltaic island was so named by Captain Richards in 1859, because it was so flat that it was difficult to determine where the sea ended and the land began. The island, like Lulu, is completely dyked. Airport services began there in 1931. Since that time the airport has expanded from 192 hectares to more than 1,600. Sea Island is joined to Vancouver by the Arthur Laing Bridge, a $20 million development. Attached to Sea Island by a causeway is Iona Island, the site of a regional park. As well, since 1973 it has been the site of a sewage plant. The plant handles waste from Richmond, Ladner and Tsawwassen. The deepwater sewage outfall on Iona Island pushes waste out into Georgia Strait, alleviating buildup on the Fraser’s Sturgeon Bank. A five- kilometre jetty covers the outfall, and is topped with a walking and cycling pathway. Iona also has several kilometres of beautiful, sandy beach and is a premier birding area.
West of the Arthur Laing Bridge is Richmond Island. This island, owned by Canadian Forest Products and paved from one end to the other, is used primarily for lumber storage.
More tranquil is Deas Island, where Highway 99 actually crosses underneath the Fraser River through the George Massey Tunnel. Massey was a Social Credit MLA who spent years campaigning for the tunnel’s construction. It was a vast improvement over the outmoded Ladner ferry! Although partly privately owned, Deas--connected to the mainland by a causeway--is a scenic treat with its quiet trails, pools, pocket beaches and meadows. The GVRD has created a 60-hectare treasure in Deas Island Regional Park, a monument to the Fraser River and its history. In the 1870s Deas Island was the site of one of the busiest canneries on the entire river, and several heritage buildings have been restored. Thousands attend the annual Fraser River Festival here.
Westham Island, in Delta, is renowned for its rich, pastoral farmlands and its dyke. It is possible to follow the winding main road all around the island, then cross by bridge to Reifel Island, home of the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, where thousands of waterfowl can be seen in winter in their natural habitat. The annual snow goose festival celebrates the week that nearly 30,000 snow geese return each fall from their breeding grounds in Siberia. The earliest marine maps refer to Reifel as “Smoky Tom Island,” but the origins of this moniker remain unclear.
Other important grounds for waterfowl on the move are Woodward, Duck, Rose, Barber, Kirkland and Gunn islands, small bits of land east of Westham Island. For the most part, marshes make these islands unsuitable for cultivation. The islands make up the South Arm Marshes Wildlife Management Area. They can be reached only by boat.
Some 234 hectares of Delta’s Tilbury Island were purchased by the provincial government for $14.3 million. Despite the presence of a chemical plant and a storage yard for Canadian National Railway, much of this island on the South Arm of the Fraser River is still farmed. Tilbury is no longer technically an island--it is now joined to the mainland, the channels that once separated it filled with river silt.
Don and Lion Islands are two floodplain islands, recently purchased and turned over to the GVRD for future park use. The rich marshland and forest are home to a variety of fish and wildlife. Lion Island was once the site of a major cannery, and traces of it can be seen. The larger Don Island has some excellent sand beaches which emerge when the tides are low.
Annacis Island is home to a multi-million-dollar industrial estate occupying just over 445 hectares. It was built in 1953 by Britain’s Duke of Westminster, and since 1955 has been joined by a causeway to New Westminster. Prior to the development of industry the island was used for farming and fishing. In 1975 a major sewage plant was built here, handling waste from Burnaby, Surrey, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Delta and parts of Richmond. Like adjoining Mitchell Island, its island character is almost completely obscured by buildings, warehouses, roads and bridges.
Poplar Island, just downstream from New Westminster, is almost free of development, a wet marshy forest of cottonwoods. It stands out as an oasis of green in a landscape dominated by factories and sawmills, and provides visual relief to drivers crossing the Queensborough Bridge. It may someday become a park.
Barnston Island is crescent-shaped, nearly five kilometres in length and over three kilometres wide. It is a large flat island of farms encircled by a dyke, topped with a paved road. It is possible to cycle around the island in under an hour, drive around it in less, and casual visitors often do. In 1995, 20 hectares at the northwestern tip of the island were designated a park protected under the new Lower Mainland Nature Legacy Program. At the eastern end of 104th Avenue in Surrey is a tiny free ferry that crosses Parson’s Channel to Barnston.
Until recently, 187-hectare Douglas Island--near the junction of the Fraser and Pitt rivers--was the property of Canadian Forest Products. Purchased by the government for $4.5 million, it is an important foreshore marsh and river habitat. Its green space is clearly visible just upstream from the Port Mann Bridge, with a necklace of log booms fringing its shores. Its rich habitat and inaccessibility made it an ideal site for Ducks Unlimited to enhance an area where wildlife could thrive in relative safety, by increasing the ponds and pools. The last of the Fraser islands as we head upstream are Brae and McMillan islands. The islands are now virtually one island, bisected by Glover Road. The eastern portion (McMillan) is the location of a Kwantlen reserve, and is the terminus for the Albion ferry. A white steepled church on McMillan Island is clearly visible from Fort Langley. The province acquired 167-hectare Brae Island to the west as a future regional park. A walking trail circles Brae, which is reachable from Maple Ridge via the ferry, or by footbridge from the Fort Langley side. A replica paddle wheeler, the Native, cruises past the islands upstream of New Westminster and moors at a dock just north of Fort Langley.
MARINE ISLANDS Granville Island, once a mud flat, reached island status in 1913 through the miracle of dredging. In 1916 it became an industrial centre of the young city. Over time, dredged material was used to transform the island into a peninsula.1973 saw both acquisition of the island by Central Mortgage and Housing Corp. and the opening of a little waterfront park. The island became public land in 1977, when the federal government bought out all leases on Granville Island. Since that time, it has become host to shops, restaurants and marinas, cultural activities and a famous and thriving public market. Some of the old industrial architecture remains, adding to the charm and excitement of this popular spot, and a fleet of tiny ferries takes visitors across False Creek.
Deadman’s Island, so named because it was once the site of native burial grounds (and was later used by white settlers for the same purpose), was the subject of much dispute until 1930, when the federal government granted the city a 99-year lease on the island. Although the condition of the lease was that the land be used as a park, it has been a naval reserve, and closed to the public, since 1944. Currently Deadman’s Island, connected to Stanley Park by a controlled bridgeway, and visible from the seawall near the Nine O’Clock Gun, is the subject of a dispute. The Musqueam band claims the land as a burial ground, while naval authorities insist the island is vital to naval training.
Indian Arm remains one of the more beautiful areas of Greater Vancouver. The Arm has become more accessible, but many of its islands remain undeveloped and wooded. The region was recently declared a provincial park that stretches virtually all the way from Deep Cove to Belcarra and up the Arm, making Indian Arm a protected fjord right in our backyard. Indian Arm Marine Provincial Park may one day become one of Greater Vancouver’s most outstanding natural attractions. The park is over 20 times the size of Stanley Park, some 9,300 hectares.
Near the entrance to Indian Arm is privately owned Boulder Island, with a beautiful home and a dock to service it. Nearby Hamber Island (once owned by Lt.-Gov. Eric Hamber), Lone Rock, Grey Rocks and White Rock are also privately owned resident islands ... completely away from the urban area, yet only a short trip from the heart of the city.
Jug Island, at the northern tip of the Belcarra peninsula, is in essence a large rock placed in the Arm. The island is part of Belcarra Regional Park. There are no facilities, but the island has a fine beach and is a popular stopover for swimmers and boaters. The observant visitor will note the frequent flights of bald eagles overhead. Together with Raccoon Island, the Twin Islands make up part of Indian Arm Provincial Marine Park. The larger of the Twins has a wharf and primitive camping facilities. The two islands, connected by a tombolo spit accessible at low tide, are rich in plant life and covered with pine, hemlock and fir trees. Like Jug and Raccoon islands, the Twins are terrific vantage-points for birders, and small tide pools are interesting to explore.
The largest island in Indian Arm is Croker Island, near the head of the Arm. It was acquired by B.C. Parks as part of the marine park. There are no facilities on the island yet, but scuba divers often dive the “wall” at the island’s southern tip. Croker Island overlooks beautiful Granite Falls, which cascades for more than 40 metres over its solid granite face into the clear waters of the fjord’s eastern shore. The island is rendered remote by steep cliffs and, like most islands in the region, has no water supply. The lack of fresh water has made development of the Arm islands a slow, difficult process. A small island off Woodlands Settlement is named “Lone Rock.” Thanks to a local doctor the island, linked to the mainland by a catwalk, is now a lovely garden with a beautiful home/guest home.
Bowen Island, located at the entrance to Howe Sound, and accessible by a 20-minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, is the most populated island in the Sound. The population in 1996 was nearly 2,500. Bowen is blessed with many natural features, including Crippen Regional Park and a 397-hectare ecological reserve established to preserve the island’s extensive ancient hemlock forest. In Crippen Regional Park there are the rocky bluffs of Dorman Point, Killarney Lake, Bridal Falls, a fish hatchery, group picnic area (reservable from GVRD park board) and an extensive trail system. Snug Cove is a delightful place to sit for a spell enjoying the boats and ferries entering and leaving the tiny harbor. See the article on the island’s interesting history in this book.
Hutt Island (off the northwest tip of Bowen) is little more than a tree-covered rock, which nonetheless has the interest of quarry operators who want to mine its granite. Bowen’s residents are resisting that effort. Farther west of Bowen (and actually part of the Sunshine Coast Regional District) are the eco- logically significant Paisley, Popham and Worlcombe islands. They are virtually undeveloped, and a popular destination for birders and eco-tour groups who study the rich marine life.
Keats Island, opposite Gibson’s Landing, is another easy-going, rural-flavored favorite of summer visitors. It is forested, and an ideal spot for picnickers. On its west side is a provincial marine park. Boaters can put down at Plumper Cove, which has a campsite and trails.
North of Bowen is Gambier Island, the largest island in Howe Sound. Although Gambier isn’t accessible by car ferry, many summer residences are found on the flatter benches and shorelines. The island has escaped extensive development and remains peaceful and quiet, with only a few roads connecting the small community. Finisterre Island ("Land’s End") is a “sometimes” island (an island only when the tide is high). Hermit Island is so named because at the turn of the century it was home to an elderly, eccentric recluse.
Also in Howe Sound are Boyer Island, with some private homes on the south shore, and Anvil Island (named by Captain Vancouver in 1793), where there is a private group camp called Camp Daybreak. With permission you can hike to the top of the island for panoramic views of the Sound.
Passage Island, just offshore of Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver, has a number of private homes that share the island with thousands of gulls. In 1893 Passage Island was purchased for a dollar per acre. A subdivision was developed on the land in the late 1960s. Most of the island is woodland and cliff. Other islets whose main inhabitants are of the feathered variety are Grebe, Bird and Whyte islets, all off the West Vancouver shoreline. Whyte Island, off WhytecliffPark, is also part of an underwater marine park, the first in Canada.
In the heart of West Vancouver’s Fisherman’s Cove lies Eagle Island. Homes are squeezed onto the tiny island, which the residents access by private runabouts. There was once a hand-cranked, chain-operated communal barge used by commuters to cross the 70 metres to the mainland. Adjacent to Eagle Island is an even smaller islet with a single residence on it. This attractive little lump of land is called Abode Island, but its size and proximity to Eagle Island has led to some residents calling it The Egg. In late 1996 the island was offered for sale for $2.9 million.
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