Tranquil Rosewall Creek

Rosewall Creek is an important winter habitat area for waterfowl and shorebirds. Adjacent Mud Bay is a shallow tidal bay with extensive mudflats exposed at low tides. At its south end the bay deepens slightly and broadens into a tidal lagoon, part of the Baynes Sound wetlands complex. Rosewall creek meanders along the eastern side of the bay and empties into the sound over a broad delta of silt deposited primarily during peak winter run-offs.

Baynes Sound is used extensively by Western Grebe, Common Loon, Trumpeter Swan, Brant, Mallards, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, and mergansers are common. Bald Eagles congregate in large numbers at the mouth of salmon streams during winter. A colony of Brewer’s Blackbird have been known to nest on a gravel bar in Rosewall Creek.

The park uplands are heavily wooded with second growth forests of Douglas-fir, grand fir, and western red cedar. Western hemlock and sitka spruce are also common. In more open sites, in the understory and along creek beds, big-leaf maple, red alder, salmonberry, wild rose, snowberry, and skunk-cabbage are found.

The park is wheel chair accessible and provides a picnic area, walking trails and the opportunity for anglers to try riverbank casting at the entrance to Qualicum Bay.