This is one of the best walks in the Qualicum Beach area, and without a doubt my favourite. Years ago, while still living down island, I visited Qualicum Beach and went for a walk along Flamingo Drive. I fell in love with the town and vowed to return when I retired. As fate would have it, I found myself moving here much sooner than expected and settling on “the Flats”. I was even more impressed when I found that one could continue past Flamingo Drive to a beautiful wildlife reserve on the edge of a wide sandy beach that few people visited. The views to the west of Denman and Hornby Islands with the mountains of Vancouver Island in the background are sublime and fill me with awe. Sunsets are spectacular and the flocks of migrating sea birds are the highlight of the year.
Directions: Start at the Wildlife Viewing Area on the Old Island Highway, between Beach Terrace and Crescent Road West. Walk west along the waterfront for approximately 40 Minutes. A little over half way along the cobble beach swings to the southwest and broadens out to the wide sandy flats of the Little Qualicum River estuary. This area teems with wildfowl during the spring migration. Continue to the mouth of the Little Qualicum River and the memorial marker in recognition of Bill and Valerie Shuttleworth. Return along the beach to the first beach access at the end of Surfside Drive. Continue along Surfside and turn right on McFeely Drive. Follow McFeely as it turns to the south and becomes Kinkade Road. Turn left on Flamingo Drive, left on Seacroft Road, right on Higson Crescent, and left on to the Old Island Highway. Return along the Highway back to the beginning.
