Fillongley Provincial Park is a 10-site beachfront campground on the north side of lovely Denman Island, a short ferry ride from Buckley Bay, Vancouver Island.  It’s the perfect spot for de-stressing: small, quiet, sun and shade, pebbly beach and calm water.

I have been there twice now, the first time with my camping buddy Trish, and the second with my husband Bob and good friends Deanna and Rick.  Both times I stayed in Campsite #1, beside a small meadow with a few trees for shade, and a sand and pebble beach just a short distance away. The meadow was our place for morning coffee, looking out over the sea to the distant mainland.  Or was it more islands?  It was hard to tell, and we were so calm and relaxed that it didn’t matter.

Limited facilities are available at Fillongly Provincial Park, just outhouses and tap water.  I recommend you bring your own drinking water, though.  The tap water is perfectly safe, but tastes terrible, even making our morning coffee taste like swill.

While camping with Trish, we walked the short path from the campground to the gravesite of the man who donated this land to BC Parks.  George Beadnell homesteaded the property in the early 1900’s and donated the land to BC Parks in 1953, with the provision that he live out his life in his home and be buried on his land.  He died in 1958.

There is little left of Beadnell’s homestead. The house is long gone, and the only sign of inhabitance is part of the well, now filled in.  Many of the trees that he imported from England are still there and still growing in a beautiful wildflower meadow.   One hazelnut tree was so big it took Trish 135 steps to walk around it!  We counted.

Check out this lovely photo of Dr. and Mrs. Beadnell enjoying tea on their property, circa 1930:  https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/dr-and-mrs-george-beadnell-denman-island

Another trail leads along the beach to Little George Creek. It was quite shallow at this time of the year, but apparently has a good salmon run in the fall.

The North Pacific Ocean is cold, and even in the heat a July afternoon, a swim usually means a quick dip while gasping for air.  There are few areas along the coast of BC where the water warms enough to swim for several minutes before your skin turns blue with the cold, and the beach at Fillongley Provincial Park is one of them.  Trish and I spent a day alternating between sketching, reading and resting at the beach, and cooling off in the water, waving to the kayaks and canoes as they passed.

While camping with Bob, Deanna and Rick, we concentrated on exploring the outside of Fillongley Provincial Park: Boyle Point Provincial Park, Mount Geoffrey Escarpment Provincial Park, and Denman Island Provincial Park.   They were all a joy to walk through, each a different experience from the last.  More excellent hikes can be found at this website: https://www.wikiloc.com/trails/hiking/canada/british-columbia/denman-island

Here are a couple of teasers from Boyle Point Provincial Park:

If you are visiting Denman, and have time, a day trip to Hornby Island is a real treat.  Lots of hiking, beautiful vistas, and a wonderful quaint farmer’s market on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11am to 2pm.  http://hornbyisland.com/experience/hornby-farmers-market/ .   For more information on the ferries from Vancouver Island to Denman Island, and Denman to Hornby, please consult the ferry schedules.

From Vancouver Island to Denman (Buckley Bay to Denman West) https://www.bcferries.com/schedules/northern/vidi-current.php

From Denman to Hornby (Gravelly Bay to Shingle Spit) https://www.bcferries.com/schedules/northern/dihi-current.php