A walk in the Elder Cedar Nature Reserve.

This is a beautiful park located just off of North Road (near Degnen Road) on Gabriola Island.  The single trail loops through part of the 65-acre reserve, taking you through the lush forest, on small bridges and stepping across the river on large stones. 
I've gone with my kids many times and it takes us about 30-40 minutes, we do stop along the way to take a look at things as we go (and there is also a geo-cache located in these woods), so you may find it quicker.  You are asked to go by foot only and stay on the trail in this park, due to the delicate ecosystem.
Here is a link to Randy Young's website, he has mapped out a lot of Gabriola's amazing trails and his website is a fantastic resource if you want to explore the trails on the Island.
Submitted by: Tina Lynch

Gabriola's waterfront parks

Gabriola is a great Island for many reasons, one of the important ones is the numerous access points that you have to the beach. We've had some great weather in the last week, which led me to one of the waterfront parks in the Whalebone area. These "neighborhood" parks were well thought out, there are 5 located in this area, each have two pathway allowances into the park and have at least 6 homes bordering onto them, I think it was a great way to share the waterfront properties. The waterfront parks, have nice cleared areas, gorgeous north facing views, and some have benches so that you can sit down and enjoy the view.