Cliff Gilker Park Visit

Of Note: Uneven ground on trails, exposed rocks and roots, noise from Highway 101 in some parts of the park, several trails and bridges are closed due to storm damage.

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Backroad Mapbook (5th edition) Park Coordinates: Page 10 (Gibsons) B6.

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Cliff Gilker Park is a large wooded area located on BC Sunshine Coast in Roberts Creek area just off Highway 101 halfway between Gibsons and Sechelt. It is Sunshine's Coast answer to Vancouver's Pacific Spirit Park, in that both of these parks are quite big, have a whole lot of long and short intersecting trails, and feature pretty much the same kind of vegetation.

Cliff Gilker Park has fewer people than Pacific Spirit, and also features two very neat waterfalls - a small and a small-to-medium size ones. The park map actually shows four waterfalls, but we only found two. Also, if you are a fan of spectacular messes left by fallen trees and other debris, Cliff Gilker Park got you covered, as there are several very, very messy spots in the creek canyon, which is quite shallow and narrow, but, nonetheless.

Once you enter into the woods from the parking lot, the first waterfall is right there, only a few hundred meters away. The second (smaller) one is about 600 meters away, and you would need to walk clockwise along the creek to get to it in the quickest way possible.

Finally, and it certainly won't fly in Vancouver (sorry to say), but Cliff Gilker Park has a free standing AED machine just sitting in a box on an outside wall of a building in the parking lot. So, if you are driving between Gibsons and Sechelt, or visiting the park, and all of a sudden need an AED, there is one waiting for you right there 24/7/365.

1. Here is a Google Map of Cliff Gilker Park.

2. We are Northbound on BC Highway 101, with Gibsons about 12 km behind us, and Sechelt 12 km ahead, getting ready to turn right to Cliff Gilker Park.

BC Highway 101 North Between Gibsons and Sechelt

3. Right away there would be a few parking spots and an information board, but a larger parking lot seen below is a few hundred meters further. Coordinates: N 49⁰25.800' W 123⁰38.501. Elevation: 102 meters. The parking is free.

Cliff Gilker Park Parking Area Sunshine Coast British Columbia Canada

4. Cliff Gilker Park Information Board. Biking is not permitted. There are a whole lot more trails than shown on the map, but, perhaps, they are outside the park boundaries.

Cliff Gilker Park Information Board

5. Just behind the info board.

Cliff Gilker Park Between Sechelt and Gibsons BC Canada

6. A fine gazebo. There is also a large playing field to the left.

Cliff Gilker Park Gazebo

7. Here is that playing field, with a picnic area in the foreground.

Cliff Gilker Park Picnic Area

8. At the end of the parking lot, on the right side, is the entrance to a very large forest. Here is that AED, by the way.

AED in Cliff Gilker Park off BC Highway 101 between Gibsons and Sechelt

9. The entrance to the forest with its many paths and a few busted bridges.

Cliff Gilker Park British Columbia Canada

10. The first waterfall view is literally 50 meters away. Here you can see it behind the trees.

Cliff Gilker Park near Gibsons BC Canada

11-12. And here is a slightly zoomed and a bit more than that zoomed views of the first waterfall from the upper viewing platform.

Cliff Gilker Park Main Waterfall