RUBY LAKE: A SLICE OF HEAVEN

Ruby Lake is a long, gorgeous slice of heaven... serene, and giving something to the soul that is often hard to find and harder to access easily without going into the great beyond of BC's wilderness areas.

A 466 ha. body of water, Ruby Lake has a mean depth of 171 ft. In the summer it is very popular for fishers, canoeists, kayakers, and anyone who loves to play in the water. It's not uncommon in June - Sept. to see floating picnic/dive platforms drifting by as you swing past Ruby Lake Resort. The lake is home to Kokanee and Cutthroat Trout, and is rated as moderately productive. Spring, fall and winter are the best fishing months. The lake is not stocked.

Ruby Lake from the south end

Popular as a canoeing destination, largely because the active Ruby Lake Resort offers canoe rentals across the road from its base of operations, which is also home to an impressive Waterfowl Sanctuary, started by one of the Cogrossi brothers - Chef Aldo - and now matured into the non-profit organization the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society. The refuge is home to over 80 species of birds and waterfowl.

There are several turnouts along the highway with discreet trails down to hidden beaches and lookouts on Ruby. Warm waters await.

EGMONT

Egmont BC

Egmont is named after the HMS Egmont. Rear Admiral Sir John Jervis helmed the HMS Egmont at the Battle of St. Vincent in the 1700s! Great places to explore in the Egmont area are Downtown Egmont (we capitalize it in respect of its tiny and unique heritage and feel), pictured above. There is nothing like wandering through the park, hall, store and Bathgates and the Backeddy to give you a feel for old-time Sunshine Coast living, with its lack of car traffic, slow pace, friendly people and a sense of a place out of time.

Egmont Day is held annually every June and is a community-wide celebration with arts & crafts, family fun and games, and a popular Saturday Night Dance. Date is TBA. But you can get a feel for the unique lifestyle of Egmont at the weekly 'Friday Night Movie Night' with 2 films every Friday... one for the kids and then one for the adults!

Skookumchuck Narrows

skookumchuck provincial park

Near Egmont are the tidal rapids at Skookumchuck Narrows, one of the most exciting sights on the Coast. As tidal waters are forced through the narrow, shallow channel between Jervis and Sechelt Inlets, the difference in water levels can exceed two metres, causing currents of more than 30 km per hour. Several unwary vessels have been lost in the cavernous whirlpools. The word "skookum" is the Sechelt Natives' term for strong, "chuck" means water - an apt name for this impressive natural phenomenon. Skookumchuck Narrows Park is just past Egmont. Follow the easy 4-km trail in from the parking lot to this spectacular sight, but check the viewing tide tables on the Sechelt Visitor Information Web Site first to ensure maximum viewing times.

Explorations of nearby Inlets, the Skookumchuck by boat, and the world-famous Princess Louisa Inlet all depart from the marina at the Egmont Marina Resort (hang a left at the park just as you enter Egmont and drive out a short road).

Ruby/Egmont Facts

POPULATION of Sechelt (29.5% of the total Sunshine Coast)

2011
9291 people
Approximate 9.9% increase (national average is 5.9)
Percentage of people over 65: 28.4% (ntl av 11.6)
Percentage of working age adults: 60%
Percentage of children: 11.6% (0-14)
Number of families: 2830 (up 12% from 2006)
Housing: 80.6% single detached house, .8% semi-detached house, 5.6% row house, 8.8% apartment, 2.3 moveable dwelling, remainder 'other'.

Sunshine Coast Regional District
1975 Field Road
Sechelt BC V0N 3A1
Email: info@scrd.ca
Phone 604.885.6800
Twitter: SunshineCoastRD
Toll Free 1.800.687.5753

School District #46
494 S. Fletcher, Gibsons
604-886-8811

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

EMERGENCY: 911

Police (non-emergency):
604-885-2266

Fire Department (non-emergency):
604-885-7017

Pender Harbour Health Centre
5066 Francis Peninsula Road,
Pender Harbour (Box 308) V0N 2H0
604-883-2764

Community Services:
5638 Inlet Avenue
Sechelt
604-885-5881

St. Mary's Hospital
Sunshine Coast Highway
604-885-2224

 

ECOLOGY & HISTORY

While Ruby Lake and Egmont may be tiny communities as communities go, they pack a lot of ecology and history into their corner of the Coast. The Iris Griffith Centre was constructed in 2005 and acts as the pivot around which the Ruby Lake Lagoon Society operates. There are community and school programs, workshops year round, lectures, public forums and the annual 'Bio Blitz' billed as '24 hour count of all that creeps, crawls, grows, swims, slithers and flies.'

Egmont recently completed the Egmont Heritage Centre across from the entrance to the Skookumchuck. This small but vital museum has a fine collection of heritage fishing & logging equipment, along with well-preserved glass bottles and Japanese fish floats glass. There is also a Memorial Totem Pole by Master Carver Arnold Jones, raised in 2010 as a wonderful community event.

Egmont museum mural

RUBY LAKE & EGMONT IN PHOTOS