Ruckle Park on Salt Spring Island is one of the most beautiful parks in the southern Gulf Islands area. Pitch your tent in the grassy meadow overlooking Swanson Channel then lie back and relax, watching pleasure boats and ferries sail by in a stately and colourful parade.
With its seven kilometres of shoreline, rocky headlands, and tiny coves and bays, Ruckle Park provides hours or even days of enjoyable exploration. Forest, field, and shore habitats make it one of the most productive wildlife viewing areas on Salt Spring.
Watch for sea lions and killer whales out at sea, as well as mink and river otters cavorting along the shoreline. Tidal pools are filled with a brightly coloured mix of crab, mussel, limpet, oyster, sculpin, starfish, and more.
Scuba divers frequent the waters off Ruckle Park, drifting among the castle-like caves or floating above the bountiful ocean floor, where they find a profusion of Plumose anemones, sponges, octopuses, seastars, and giant barnacles. On shore, birdwatchers can often catch sight of cormorants, grebes, guillemots, eagles, grouse, and quail.
A park visitor enjoying and afternoon in a campsite by the ocean. Ruckle Park.1 / 2