"an ideal park in jeopardy"

Muir Creek is unique in its natural richness and scenic beauty. The diversity of plant and animal species includes noted species at risk.

The rain forest along the banks of the

creek displays spectacular abundance. It

is filled with wildflowers and medicinal

plants among the more obvious giant

home to many bird and animal species

including eagles, bear and cougar. The

creek itself hosts healthy, self-sustaining

salmon and steelhead populations. The

overhanging lace of old growth forest

shelters their spawning beds and the

purity of the water is protected by these

guardians.

The forest path has its own particular

Eagles call from high in the forest canopy

About 4.4 km upstream from the coast

is an area known locally as ‘the canyon’.

Here, the creek bed rises significantly and

there are cliffs, huge boulders, waterfalls

and clear, deep swimming pools. Dipper

birds nest on the bank underneath wild-

flowers clinging to the steep slopes. The

second largest cedar and the largest Douglas

fir found by Society members are just

downstream of the canyon. Somewhat

further upstream, past the old logging

bridge, the second largest yew tree listed

in the Provincial Big Tree Registry can be

found.

The abundance of deciduous and

evergreen shrubbery including salal,

oceanspray, black twinberry, Oregon

grape, Indian plum, Nootka rose, Himalayan

blackberry, thimbleberry, salmonberry, trailing wild blackberry, red

elderberry, evergreen huckleberry and red

huckleberry provides an excellent source

of edible fruits for insect and animal species

alike.

In the spring, a riotous carpet of

wildflowers blooms. Thirty species of

herbaceous flowering plants have been

identified. The most abundant showings

of these flowers are along the most

accessible upstream area of the creek.

Throughout the year, a careful observer

will find some of the six species of ferns,

eighteen species of mosses and fourteen

species of lichens as well as many species

of mushroom which have been identified

and catalogued in the area in a 2006 field

study.