Colliery Dam Park

Report by Anja H.

The Colliery Dam Park is really near to the university, which means you can actually walk there. It is just a 10 minute walk to the park. You just walk down the hill by the residences and at the traffic light left. Then you just have to walk until the end of the street (635 Wakesiah Avenue).

The Colliery Dam Park has three lakes which are separated by two dams. This park is one of Nanaimo’s larger destination parks and there are some steep trails and narrow bridge crossings along the upper dam trail. At the beginning of the trail you can see a waterfall – it is amazing because it is so powerful. In the summer you can also swim there – but there are no lifeguards so you have to be careful! Another option is to go fishing, boating (non-motor), jogging, wildlife viewing or hiking.

When I was there it was too cold for swimming, but we could walk the trail and that was also really nice. We spent more than two hours there and we didn´t use the given trail, but walked across the forest through the shrubbery and the woods.

We also wanted to go on one of the little islands in the third lake. The water is really cold in March – so if you also want to do this, one suggestion for you: wear gum boots! Fortunately, I wore some of them! My friends didn’t have that much luck – they all wore sneakers or hiking shoes.

So we had to cross the water to reach the islands. For me it was easy to go there because of my gum boots – 10 seconds and I was there and my feet weren´t wet or cold. The others had to take off their shoes and socks and crossed the water barefoot – and it was cold, very cold (maybe 10 degrees). That wasn´t such a great experience and also they had to cross the water again to go back to the other shore.
If you stay on the normal trail you can walk for more than an hour but there is more than one way, so it depends on the trail you choose. Have fun and enjoy Colliery Dam Park!