Located 6 kilometres northwest of Courtenay on central Vancouver Island, Kitty Coleman Park was named after Kitty Coleman, a local First Nation member who left her tribe to marry a white man. The park has always been a bit of a mystery to me as it is sometimes referred to as the woodland gardens and sometimes as a provincial park. As it turns out, it is both.
The original park was donated to the settlers of Merville around 1900 and operated by the community until the 1940s, when financial difficulties led to the province assuming management responsibility. Kitty Coleman was established as a Class “C” Provincial Park on November 14, 1944 , and a community park board was set up to oversee its operation. As a Class C park that receives no government funding, revenues generated from campers and boaters are used to cover the costs of taking care of the park.
Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens Woodland Gardens is recognized as one of the world’s finest informal show gardens. It has one of the largest rhododendron collections in Western Canada with over 3000 plantings and 24 wooded acres are covered with bark mulch paths and many water features.
I visited the park and enjoyed a cup of soup as I watched the waves and birds.
I also enjoyed watching some wind surfers as they zoomed across the waters of Georgia Straight toward Powell River – you have to bear in mind that this was in the last week of October yet people are enjoying nature, not huddled up in long underwear and shovelling snow.
