Catch a Sunset at Sugarloaf Mountain

You can easily put Sugarloaf Mountain Park into your GPS when in Nanaimo, but lets, just say you have an old school map. First make your way from the Island Highway onto Departure Bay Rd. Just before you get to Hammond Bay Rd turn onto Little John Way and take your first left, then take your first right onto Marion Way and follow it all the way to the end. It's very easy to get to.

There you'll see the Sugarloaf Mountain Park sign you can park anywhere near there. Take the stairs up as far as you can go then start making your way to the "spire" (a tall protruding structure marking the summit) from there you can continue towards Departure Bay to get some great views. It doesn't take long to get to the top only about a couple minutes which is great, you don't have to lug a bunch of heavy camera gear very far, and you get an almost 360 degree view of Departure Bay and residential Nanaimo.

The landscape of Sugarloaf Mountain reminds me a bit of the Isle of Skye in Scotland, a very unique mix of rock and grass. Also, the name comes from the olden days when sugar would come in loafs and would have to be grated, if you can picture what that looks like the mountain apparently has that resemblance but I haven't been able to find pictures online of "loafs of sugar".  

You can spend the morning there watching sunrise or night for sunset, it really is a little slice of paradise right in Nanaimo, and if your just visiting you can be sure your getting off the tourist track by visiting here.