Bowen Park — Attraction in Nanaimo

We really enjoyed strolling through this park shortly after landing in Nanaimo in the last week of July. We parked near the Frisbee golf and walked a short way down the path adjacent to the creek while looking for the waterfall. The path was closed off due to construction on a foot bridge crossing the creek. We back tracked a bit and crossed the stream in a really shallow dry area thinking maybe the path was on the other side just up the bank in the trees a bit. Someone had attached a rope along a steep part of the bank that helped getting up and down the little footpath. Once we reached a higher look out point we realized we had walked right by a small encampment of about 3 or 4 tents well camouflaged. We decided to cross back to the main side and go up and walk along the road till we found some nice ponds and a waterfall.

It was all very lovely nature and we actually did the whole walk twice after I realized I lost my sunglasses somewhere along the way. Thank you very much to the person who found them and hung them on a chain link fence in a visible spot. On that return trip we also noticed some movement in a smaller pond and stopped to watch a group of otters eat and swim around for probably 20 minutes. I will definitely return to this park again when we...

Fabulous park complete with walking trails, duck pond🦆, river/creek, 2 playgrounds, 18 hole disc golf course 🥏, picnic areas (one with 8 or 10 picnic tables under a roof), gazebo, amphitheater, sand volleyball courts 🏐, tennis courts 🎾 with sufficient lighting for twilight matches (basketball courts 🏀 inside) as well as a beautiful new baseball diamond ⚾ and footy ⚽ pitch, horseshoe pitches, a rose garden 🌹and a rhododendron garden 🌺 with plenty of benches dispersed throughout the whole park. The facility I am not too familiar with but I know there is an outdoor pool 🏊‍♂️ and lawn bowling green attached. Before COVID you were able to borrow snooker or billiards balls 🎱 for the full size (if memory serves) table downstairs or a disc by leaving your I'd as collateral. Across Wall Street (in the South Eastern corner) there is a curling rink 🥌 with skate park 🛹 behind it and a North American football 🏈 field across the creek. My favourite...

Urban gem that is probably overlooked! Some really great trails for walking and running here - good parking and accessibility, but I'd say the trails are a bit too narrow for large strollers or some scooters. There's also a paved road that the trails loop in and out of, so you won't be left out if packed dirt or gravel trails aren't your thing. The Millstone trail around the creek isn't the most accessible - some short steep sections and stairs. There's a cute amphitheatre near the parking area that would be great for weddings and is used throughout the summer for performances. Signage on trails isn't the best. It's worth picking up the city's walking/hiking trail map before you go or taking a pic of the park overview map to use on your phone while you're walking/hiking. It's totally worth exploring the walking/hiking trails - some gorgeous gems hidden...