Photo: Marilyn Guille, The Wind Walker

Part of Jedediah Island's charm is that it is not easy to reach. Those who venture out on the water are rewarded with sheltered provincial wilderness campsites on several marine park islands. It's difficult to overstate how pleasant it is to stay at any of them.

Most of the year, those who make the effort to paddle beyond the federal docks soon have the ocean to themselves. Come warmer weather and mellower seas, hundreds of visitors a day flock to marine parks like Jedediah Island, which nearby Lasqueti Island residents refer to jokingly as 'Club Jed.'

Jedediah's isolation and tranquility make it an excellent destination for kayaking and wilderness camping. What sets Jedediah apart is its size (240 ha) one of the largest island parks in the province. Visitors are free to camp anywhere on Jedediah. Some of the best sites are near the shoreline around Long Bay, particularly as the drumming sound of diesel-driven marine traffic in Sabine Channel don't reach this side of the island.

Informal campsites abound around the sheltered shore of both Long and Home Bays. As well as sites on the clearings above the beaches at both bays, look for a series of trails that runs around Long Bay and a short distance through the forest to several small bays on the east side of the island. There are more campsites along here that may provide more privacy at the height of kayaking-touring season.

Home Bay is semi sheltered by Mother Goose Island, which lies just offshore, but it lacks the tranquillity of Long Bay. Both bays teem with shellfish: when the tide goes out, the exposed mudflats are ripe for clam raking.

Jedediah's north and south ends are rocky and hilly; most visitors will be content to explore the trails that run through the middle section of the island. An old road crosses the island, linking Long and Home Bays. Unlike many of the nearby islands, Jedediah has never been subjected to wholesale logging; much of the forest cover through which visitors walk is old growth.

Photo: Marilyn Guille, The Wind Walker

A herd of feral sheep and goats graze in the fields that surround a farmhouse standing above the shoreline at Home Bay. The weathered house is boarded up now, as are all the outbuildings, but there is still a definite feeling of a working homestead about the place. A shed houses antique farm equipment beside an orchard of gnarled trees that continue to blossom.

The scene is an unusual one to find in a provincial park, and reminiscent of Ruckle Provincial Park at the south end of Saltspring Island, site of one of British Columbia's first family farms.