Pender Harbour and Egmont - human settlement in British Columbia, Canada

Pender Harbour and Egmont is a mostly rural area northwest of Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. It includes the communities of Madeira Park and Garden Bay on Pender Harbour and the villages of Earls Cove and Egmont.

Understand

Before the first Europeans discovered the area, a vibrant population of First Nations equalled or doubled its current number of inhabitants. Sex'wamin, the Shishalh winter settlement centred on Garden Bay, was likely one of the largest on the British Columbia coast. It is estimated that over 5,000 First Nations people lived in longhouses on the shore near where the Garden Bay Hotel now sits. The Shishalh vacated Pender Harbour and relocated to summer villages up the inlets of Jervis, Salmon, and Narrow. Theirs was the opposite of current migration patterns, which see Pender Harbour's population swell in the summer and thin during the winter months.

Get in

The Sunshine Coast Highway (Hwy 101) is the main road in and out of the area. It is approximately a 75- to 90-minute drive north from the Langdale ferry terminal, which connects with Horseshoe Bay and Vancouver.

By boat

• BC Ferries. Operates ferries connecting coastal communities in British Columbia. 2022-06-30
  • Sunshine Coast (Earls Cove) ferry terminal 📍 - Located at the north end of this stretch of highway 101.  Crossing time from Powell River (Saltery Bay) ferry terminal is 50 minutes.  No fare when crossing to Powell River (Saltery Bay) and there is a fare when crossing to Sunshine Coast (Earls Cove). The ferry runs eight times daily. Four days per days per week on the Earls Cove side, the Sunshine Coast Connector travels between Earls Cove and the Sunshine Coast (Langdale) ferry terminal with stops in Sechelt and Gibsons. On the same four days per week, BC Transit bus route 12 operates four days per week to Powell River (Saltery Bay).

By bus

• Sunshine Coast Connector, coastconnector@gmail.com. Bus service between Sunshine Coast (Langdale) ferry terminal and Sunshine Coast (Earls Cove) ferry terminal (1.5 hours) with stops in Gibsons, Sechelt, Madeira Park, and Egmont. Travelers to and from Powell River can ride the ferry at Earls Cove and BC Transit (Powell River Transit System) route 12 that connects with Powell River (Saltery Bay) ferry terminal. 2022-04-07

Get around

See and do

• Egmont village and wharf, Bathgate Rd, Egmont, 49.7497°, -123.9302°. The wharf by the Bathgate General Store provides some pretty views of the village, harbour and mountains. 2016-04-06
• Seafarer's Millenium Park, end of Madeira Park Rd, Madeira Park, 49.6225°, -124.0253°. Small park that overlooks Madeira Park Public Wharf and has nice views of Pender Harbour. There's a gazebo, picnic tables, small boardwalk and access to the wharf. 2016-04-06
• Skookumchuk Narrows Provincial Park, Egmont (parking lot for trail access is on the Egmont Road, shortly before entering the village of Egmont (about 6 km after turning off of Hwy 101)), 49.7408°, -123.9086°. The site of some of the strongest and most spectacular tidal currents in western North America. These narrows occurs where the water enters into the Sechelt Inlet. There can be as much as a 2m difference in sea level between Sechelt Inlet and the Jervis inlet. The water can be moving at speeds of up to 16 knots and creates standing waves up to 1.5 m and whirlpools. Access to the best place to view the narrows is a 4-km roughly 1½-hr hike (each way) from the parking lot. 2016-04-05
• Princess Louisa Inlet, 50.1965°, -123.7749°. One of BC's most beautiful natural locations. The wide opening of Jervis Inlet narrows to become a 64-km (40-mile) long fjord ending in Princess Louisa Inlet. Accessible only by boat. On the journey up, your boat will navigate past dozens of waterfalls that trickle down from steep, craggy granite bluffs that loom over you on both sides.
  Once past the geological constriction called Malibu Rapids, Princess Louisa Inlet opens up -- revealing the glacier-fed Chatterbox Falls, the highlight of this sheltered inlet. This region is protected and preserved within the 65-hectare Princess Louisa Marine Provincial Park.
  Beside Chatterbox Falls, there is a dock with water, but no electricity, for boaters. There is also moorage available for at least twenty boats. Boardwalks will take you along trails to the Falls, where the air is so moist that the trees are covered with thick moss and ferns.
  Tours leave for Princess Louisa from Egmont on a scheduled basis all summer long.

Buy

• EarthFair Store, 12902 Madeira Park Rd, Madeira Park, 49.62074°, -124.02321°, +1 604-883-9006. Books, activities, and gifts, for naturalists, kids and bookworms. 2018-05-09
• Bathgate General Store, 6781 Bathgate Rd., Egmont, 49.74953°, -123.93004°, +1 604-883-2222, info@bathgate.com. Souvenirs, gifts, local arts & crafts, groceries, liquor store. 2018-05-09

Eat

• Backeddy Marine Pub, 16660 Backeddy Rd, Egmont, 49.7568°, -123.9401°, +1 604-883-2298. M-Sa noon-10PM, Su 11AM-10PM. Pub and restaurant known for its gigantic "Skookum Burger". There’s also other pub fare, like sandwiches, fish and chips and a number of seafood appetizers. Mains $9-19 2016-04-05
• Inlets Restaurant at West Coast Wilderness Lodge, 6649 Maple Rd, Egmont (The village of Egmont), 49.7561°, -123.9376°, +1 604-883-3667. The fine dining at the Lodge is all about the view. It has floor-to-ceiling windows that span the entire dining room, and was built high up on a bluff overlooking Sutton Islands and the Sechelt Inlet. $10-20 breakfast and lunch, $20-40 dinner 2016-04-05

Drink

Sleep

• Ruby Lake Resort, 15426 Sunshine Coast Hwy, 49.7108°, -123.9679°, +1 604-883-2269. Ten rooms (studio and one-bedroom units) on a hill overlooking a lake in a bird sanctuary. The rooms are clean, although a bit dated, but the setting is beautiful and it’s very peaceful. Units have a kitchenette and there is a communal BBQ. There are many trails on the property (some hills) and canoe and rowboat rentals on the other side of the road. 2016-04-05
• Bathgate Resort & Marina, 6781 Bathgate Rd, Egmont, 49.74967°, -123.9302°, +1 604-883-2222, info@bathgate.com. Four suites. From $97 low-season, $159 high-season 2018-05-09

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