Anyone interested in checking out a national park or historic site can do so for free on Canada Day, July 1, including the ones located on Vancouver Island.
Canada is home to more than 171 national historic sites, including one in Colwood.
The only national historic site on Vancouver Island is Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse, which was designated a national historic site nearly 70 years ago.
The Fisgard Lighthouse was the first permanent lighthouse to be installed on the Pacific Coast of Canada in 1860.
The site is also home to Fort Rodd Hill, an artillery base for the navy that was in operation from 1895 to 1956.
Meanwhile, Vancouver Island’s two national parks – the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve – will also be free on Canada Day.
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Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino, recently opened its 25 kilometres multi-use pathway near Long Beach.
It opened in 2022, in partnership with the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ.
While not located exclusively on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve encompasses one campground on the Island, as well as on Sidney Island, D’Arcy Island, Portland Island, Pender Islands, Prevost Island, Saturna Island, Cabbage Island, Mayne Island, Tumbo Islands, and Isle-de-Lis.
The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was created in 2003 to protect the unique and varied environments of B.C.’s Southern Gulf Islands, which are “just a stone’s throw away from the urban clamour of Vancouver and Victoria.”
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Adam Chan
