Earls Cove | |
---|---|
Locality | |
Coordinates: 49°45′07″N124°00′33″W / 49.75194°N 124.00917°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | British Columbia |
Regional district | Sunshine Coast |
Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific Standard (PST)) |
Area code | 604 |
Highways | Hwy 101 |
Earls Cove is a small settlement located on Jervis Inlet in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia. It is a terminal for the BC Ferries route across the inlet to Saltery Bay, linking the Lower Sunshine Coast with the Upper Sunshine Coast. Earls Cove is at the north end of the Sechelt Peninsula and on the east side of the mouth of Jervis Inlet, adjacent to Agamemnon Channel, across which is Nelson Island.
Earls Cove was named indirectly after an early pioneer of the area, Mr. Earl: the name was officialized in the plural form (rather than the possessive "Earl's") at the request of the community, as there were several families named Earl in the area.
Earls Cove is accessed by ferry terminal and paved highway. From the Lower Mainland, BC Ferries provides service from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. From Langdale, Highway 101 runs to the end of the Sunshine Coast at the community of Lund; Earls Cove, and the ferry from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay, is approximately midway between Langdale and Lund. The distance from Vancouver to Earls Cove is 136 kilometres (85 mi). The ferry trip across the mouth of Jervis Inlet provides passengers with scenery little changed from when Captain George Vancouver explored the area in 1792.
The Earls Cove Ferry Terminal is a BC Ferries terminal with two berths that links Highway 101 across Jervis Inlet to Saltery Bay. Known as the Sechelt – Powell River (Earls Cove–Saltery Bay) ferry, it is about 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km) long and serviced by the MV Malaspina Sky. [1] The trip by ferry from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay takes about 50 minutes.
The Sunshine Coast lives up to its name - generally winters are mild and wet, and the summers drier than many other coastal areas. Average temperatures range from 4 °C (39 °F) in January to 18 °C (64 °F) in July. Average rainfall is about 100 cm (39 in); mild weather patterns mean that snowfall in the area is very light. The temperate climate has made this a popular area for retirees and vacationers looking for outdoor recreational opportunities of all sorts.
Nearby Sakinaw and Ruby Lakes are noted for their trout fishing in season. They are also freshwater havens for canoers and kayakers.
Ruby Lake Lagoon is home to over 80 species of birds, and to other animals. Wildlife watchers can observe Wood Duck, painted turtles, beavers, otters, elk, deer and bears.
The northern terminus of the Suncoaster Trail, a 33 km (21 mi) trail popular with hikers and bikers, is at Klein Lake, just east of Earls Cove. NIHO Land & Cattle Company (owners of recreational land) strongly recommend before attempting any hike in this region you first purchase a hiking guide from a local bookstore.
There are several provincial parks in the area, including Musket Island Marine Park. Ambrose Lake Ecological Reserve preserves a small coastal lake, adjacent bogland, and surrounding forest, and is open to the public for non-destructive pursuits like hiking, nature observation and photography.
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a similar service to that provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America, operating a fleet of 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.
British Columbia Highway 101, also known as the Sunshine Coast Highway, is the main north–south thoroughfare on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Canada.
Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, which is part of the larger Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. With two intervening long, steep-sided fjords inhibiting the construction of a contiguous road connection with Vancouver to the south, geographical surroundings explain Powell River's remoteness as a community, despite relative proximity to Vancouver and other populous areas of the BC Coast. The city is the location of the head office of the qathet Regional District.
The Sunshine Coast is a geographic subregion of the British Columbia Coast that generally comprises the regional districts of qathet and Sunshine Coast.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern mainland coast, across Georgia Strait from Vancouver Island. It borders on the qathet Regional District to the north, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to the east, and, across Howe Sound, the Metro Vancouver District to the south. The regional district offices are located in the District Municipality of Sechelt.
Sechelt is a district municipality located on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, it is accessible from mainland British Columbia by a 40-minute ferry trip between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale, and a 25-minute drive from Langdale along Highway 101, also known as the Sunshine Coast Highway. The name Sechelt is derived from the she shashishalhem word shíshálh, the name of the First Nations people who first settled the area thousands of years ago.
Howe Sound is a roughly triangular sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021.
Jervis Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, about 95 km (59 mi) northwest of Vancouver, and the third of such inlets north of the 49th parallel, the first of which is Burrard Inlet, Vancouver's harbour.
Saltery Bay Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located southeast of the city of Powell River, and on the north side of the entrance to Jervis Inlet in the central area of that province's Sunshine Coast region.
Lund is a small craft harbour and unincorporated village on Tla'amin land in qathet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is along the northern part of the Salish Sea on the mainland BC coast. The main landmark in the village is the Lund Hotel, established in 1905. By boat from Lund, the Copeland Islands and Desolation Sound, are nearby. Lund is home to many shops and services including a general store, a restaurant overlooking the water, kayak and adventure tourism stores, and Nancy's Bakery, a favourite of locals and tourists.
Keats Island is an inhabited island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. Around eighty people live on Keats Island year-round.
MV Malaspina Sky is an Intermediate-class ferry in the BC Ferries fleet built in 2008.
The Sechelt Peninsula is located on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, just northwest of Vancouver. It is bounded to the west by Malaspina Strait, to the north by Agamemnon Channel and Jervis Inlet, to the east by Sechelt Inlet, and to the south by the Strait of Georgia (separating it from Vancouver Island. Its approximately 350 km2 is a mixture of drier and wetter temperate rain forest. The Caren Range extends north–south along the shore of Sechelt Inlet. The peninsula is a popular outdoor recreation destination, containing many lakes and opportunities for shoreline and woodland hiking, including to the renowned Skookumchuk Narrows. There are several parks, the largest of which is Spipiyus Provincial Park in the interior of the peninsula.
St. Vincent Bay was a cannery town on the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located on the northwest bank of Jervis Inlet near Hotham Sound, and just northeast of the Saltery Bay ferry terminal on the upper Sunshine Coast, and opposite the mouth of Sechelt Inlet. It was utilized as a log sort and booming ground. It has now been transformed into a quarry for aggregate.
M/V Queen of the Islands was a RORO ferry operated by BC Ferries between 1963 and 1991. Although the passenger areas provided for an enjoyable travel experience for the general public, she was much maligned by the crews that worked on her, and the Queen of the Islands quickly garnered a reputation as being one of the most unloved ships ever to have operated with BC Ferries.
The Lighthouse Pub is a Transportation Corridor / Restaurant and Pub at the southern tip of Sechelt Inlet. The building was originally a restaurant from Expo 86 and has since been slowly transformed into an air and sea gateway to Sechelt.
Saltery Bay is an unincorporated community on the Sunshine Coast of southern British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of the city of Powell River. It is adjacent to Saltery Bay Provincial Park.
The Sunshine Coast Trail is a 180 km (112 mi) wilderness hiking trail in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. The trail traverses the qathet Regional District from Sarah Point on the Desolation Sound in the north to the BC Ferries terminal at Saltery Bay on Jervis Inlet in the south. The trail goes within close proximity of the communities of Powell River, Lang Bay, Lund, and Teeshohsum, through public, private and Tla'amin Nation treaty lands. It connects provincial parks such as Malaspina Provincial Park and Inland Lake Provincial Park, as well as many recreation sites and regional parks.