Saysutshun Provincial Park, Provincial nature reserve in Nanaimo, Canada

Saysutshun is a nature reserve on an island off Nanaimo's coast featuring walking trails, sandstone cliffs, and pebble beaches. The landscape along the water offers different approaches to the shoreline and natural viewpoints across the Salish Sea.

Ki’et’sa’kun, a Snuneymuxw man nicknamed "Coal Tyee", brought a canoe of coal to Fort Victoria in April 1850, prompting the Hudson's Bay Company to investigate. The company named the island Newcastle in 1849 after the English coal town Newcastle upon Tyne. The Newcastle Mine ran from 1853 to 1856 and the Fitzwilliam Mine from 1872 to 1882; in 1862 the HBC sold its coalfields to the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company.

The Snuneymuxw had two villages on the island: Saysetsen, on the east side near Midden Bay facing Protection Island, and Clotsun, whose name meant Protector. Families stayed at Saysetsen from January to April to spear spawning herring with hardwood sticks inlaid with whalebone teeth, then moved on to Gabriola Island and the Fraser River.

A passenger ferry brings visitors from a waterfront park to the island in just a few minutes with regular service throughout the day. Good walking shoes are important since trails cross uneven terrain and some areas slope steeply.

The island's sandstone was quarried from 1869 to 1932 and shipped to cities across Canada and abroad for building construction. The timber industry also sought the stone, using it as pulp stones to grind tree fibres into pulp for paper-making.