Porteau Cove Provincial Park, Provincial park along Howe Sound in British Columbia, Canada
Porteau Cove Provincial Park covers about 50 hectares on the east shore of Howe Sound, most of it water, with a land strip under 5 ha between Highway 99 and the BC Rail line used by the Rocky Mountaineer. It holds 44 drive-in and 16 walk-in campsites, a pier owned by BC Parks, and an emergency ferry dock run by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
The park was established in 1981; its boundaries were last changed in 2012, when it took its current size of about 56 hectares, mostly water. Its name comes from the era of sand and gravel extraction here, from the French porte d'eau. Since September 2021 it has lain within the Atl'ka7tsme/Howe Sound UNESCO biosphere reserve.
The name Porteau comes from the French porte d'eau, referring to the sand and gravel extraction once carried out here. The park lies within the Atl'ka7tsme/Howe Sound Biosphere Region, designated by UNESCO in September 2021. Divers and watersports users are the main visitors, and the pier, owned by BC Parks, is open to the public as a promenade wharf.
The park lies about 20 km south of Squamish on Highway 99, with the railway marking its eastern edge. Camping is limited to 44 drive-in and 16 walk-in sites, and 80% of pitches can be reserved from April through September. The ferry dock is for emergencies only, though its pier is open as a promenade wharf. Pets must be leashed and are barred from the beach and buildings.
The ferry dock at Porteau Cove is owned by BC Parks, but its ramp belongs to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. It is reserved for emergencies such as a landslide cutting Highway 99, when a ferry could detour cars to Darrell Bay in Squamish or Horseshoe Bay. Because slides are rare, the pier normally serves as a public promenade wharf.
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