D'Arcy Island is an 83-ha island in Haro Strait, south of Sidney Island and east of the Saanich Peninsula (Vancouver Island). It is the southernmost of the Gulf Islands and is included in its entirety in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
D'Arcy Island is an 83-ha island in Haro Strait, south of Sidney Island and east of the Saanich Peninsula (Vancouver Island). It is the southernmost of the Gulf Islands and is included in its entirety in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
The island was used as a leper colony for Chinese immigrants from 1891 to 1924, when the inhabitants were moved to Bentinck Island, closer to Victoria. Ruins of the buildings built during that time are still visible. [1] [2] [3] [4]
D'Arcy Island's proximity to the United States border was exploited by famous American bootlegger Roy Olmstead in the smuggling of Canadian liquor, primarily whisky, to Washington State. [5] His operation would transport the liquor from Victoria, British Columbia, to islands in Haro Strait, including D'Arcy, for later pickup by smaller craft that would move the contraband during rough weather, making it more difficult for the Coast Guard to detect them. [6]
D'Arcy was declared a marine park in 1961, and included as part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve in 2003. [7]
D'Arcy is accessible by private watercraft only.[ citation needed ]
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve offers 7 marine-accessible backcountry campsites on D'Arcy. Facilities are limited to pit toilets and picnic tables. There is no potable water available, and no campfires are permitted. The Current Map and Hiking and Camping Information brochure provides updated camping fees .
The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of San Juan County.
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a body of water about 96 miles long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre of the Strait.
The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquimalt Harbour and Royal Roads, to the northwest by the New Songhees 1A Indian reserve and the town of View Royal, and to the north by a narrow inlet of water called the Gorge, across which is the district municipality of Saanich. It is almost tangential to Esquimalt 1 Indian Reserve near Admirals Road. It is one of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria and part of the Capital Regional District.
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is a national park located on and around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada. In the National Parks System Plan, this park provides representation of the Strait of Georgia Lowlands natural region, the only place in Canada with a Mediterranean climate of dry, sunny summers and mild, wet winters, the result of a rain shadow effect from surrounding mountains between the region and the ocean. It has similar dominant vegetation as the Pacific Northwest, such as coastal Douglas-fir, western red cedar, shore pine, Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, and red alder, but also contains the northern extent of some of the more drought tolerant trees such as Garry oak and Arbutus. The park was created in 2003 as the fortieth national park. It covers 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi) of area on 16 islands and more than 30 islets, reefs and surrounding waters, making it the sixth smallest national park in Canada.
The Gulf Islands is a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia.
Mayne Island is a 21-square-kilometre (8.1 sq mi) island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of over 1300. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is its highest peak at 255 metres.
The Georgia Depression is a depression in the Pacific Northwest region of western North America. The depression includes the lowland regions of southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington along the shores of the Salish Sea.
Uplands, Victoria is a 188.17-hectare (465.0-acre) neighbourhood located in the north east part of the District of Oak Bay, a suburb adjacent to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and situated between the neighbourhoods of Cadboro Bay and North Oak Bay. Uplands is a prominent example of a garden suburb designed in the early part of the 20th century.
Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is a provincial park located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established on April 4, 1996 by combining three former parks — China Beach, Loss Creek, and Botanical Beach — into one provincial park. It is the location of the majority of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, which is a southern compliment to the West Coast Trail within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
Saanich Peninsula is located north of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is bounded by Saanich Inlet on the west, Satellite Channel on the north, the small Colburne Passage on the northeast, and Haro Strait on the east. The exact southern boundary of what is referred to as the "Saanich Peninsula" is somewhat fluid in local parlance.
Saturna Island is a mountainous island, about 31 square kilometres (12 sq mi) in size, in the Southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated approximately midway between the Lower Mainland of B.C. and Vancouver Island, and is the most easterly of the Gulf Islands. It is surrounded on three sides by the Canada–United States border. To the north is Point Roberts, Washington, and to the east and south are the San Juan Islands. There is a First Nations reserve on the island for the Tsayout and Tseycum Nations. The island has a permanent population of around 350; however, this number increases during the summer season.
Skull Islet is a small islet just off the shore of South Pender Island in British Columbia. It is on the east side of Bedwell Harbour. Skull Islet is part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and is Authorized Access Only.
The Haro Strait is one of the main channels connecting the Strait of Georgia to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, separating Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada from the San Juan Islands of Washington state in the United States.
Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general aviation. Historically it was a shipbuilding and commercial fishing centre. While the Inner Harbour is fully within the City of Victoria, separating the city's downtown on its east side from the Victoria West neighbourhood, the Upper Harbour serves as the boundary between the City of Victoria and the district municipality of Esquimalt. The inner reaches are also bordered by the district of Saanich and the town of View Royal. Victoria is a federal "public harbour" as defined by Transport Canada. Several port facilities in the harbour are overseen and developed by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, however the harbour master's position is with Transport Canada.
Sidney Island is one of the southern Gulf Islands located between the southwest coast of British Columbia, Canada and Vancouver Island, BC, near James Island. Sidney Island has an elevation of 77 metres above mean sea level at its highest point. It is located just east of the town of Sidney which is on the east coast of the Saanich Peninsula. Sidney Island is a part of the Capital Regional District, while its land titles are legally described in the Cowichan Land District. In 1859 Captain Richards named the island for Frederick W. Sidney, who, like Richards served in the survey branch of the Royal Navy.
Portland Island is an island of the Southern Gulf Islands of the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the Salish Sea west of Moresby Island and off the south tip of Saltspring Island, adjacent to the main BC Ferries route just offshore from the terminal at Swartz Bay at the tip of the Saanich Peninsula. It was named after HMS Portland, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Station 1850–1853.
Sansum Narrows is a strait or channel between Vancouver Island (W) and Saltspring Island (E) in the Southern Gulf Islands region of British Columbia, Canada. The narrows are between Maple Bay and Tl’ulpalus.
The Tseycum First Nation is a First Nations government located on Vancouver Island. In the 1850s, they were signatories to the Douglas Treaties.
The Belle Chain Islets, originally simply the Belle Chain are a group of small islands off the north end of Saturna Island on the west side of the Strait of Georgia on the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The Belle Chain Islets are part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and are Authorized Access Only except for Lot 65 which is available for day use by boaters and kayakers.
Bentinck Island is a small island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca just off the southern tip of Vancouver Island in Metchosin, British Columbia, Canada near Race Rocks. It served as a leper colony beginning in 1924, when the federal government shut down D'Arcy Island, as Bentinck Island was closer to medical quarantine facilities, until 1957, when the last person affected by leprosy died.
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