The forests of Fanny Bay are enchanted.

A walk along the trails near Ships Point reveal dichotomy, controversy, community and absolute beauty.

Tucked away, just past trail heads hidden by a bit of overgrowth, is at least a Sunday morning’s worth of exploring art and nature – separately or together depending on what suits you.

CVK mom Melanie Perkins invited us out to experience Fanny Bay for ourselves recently and this slice of the Comox Valley is now one of our favourite locales.

We started our walk at the end of Bates Road (to get there take the Old Island Highway, make a left on Ships Point Road, a left on Little Way and then a left on Bates). It’s a quiet spot, an unassuming dead-end road. To the right, there’s a trail head and you enter into a world of art, thought provoking and controversial to say the least as we found ourselves at the beginning of Valley sculpture artist George Sawchuk’s Enchanted Forest.

Named the first Honorary Valley Treasure by the Comox Valley Community Arts Council, Sawchuk is influenced deeply by his socialist upbringing and early life as an itinerant worker.

A walk through the forest around his house reveals Sawchuk’s sensibility through his art which deals controversially but not graphically with religion, politics, war and economics.

For young kids it’s a cool exploration of found objects and hidden treasures. With older kids, an opportunity to launch discussions and field questions about a whole range of social issues. Adults will discover provocative pieces of art.

You can wander for a few minutes, or a few hours.

Nearby, as you step out of the forest and follow the trail down to the beach, you discover a different sort of enchantment as you wander along what becomes the Fanny Bay Conservation Trail.

If Sawchuk’s sensibility isn’t your speed or you are looking for a weekend adventure that is more about the natural world rather than the nature of society, you can start this walk at the trail head on Tozer Road. To get there you just head past Bates on Ships Point Road until you get to Tozer, where you make a left and park at the end.

From there, you pick up The Cowie Trail , which leads you out onto a dyke path dividing absolutely breathtaking marshland from the mudflats which, when the tide is out, make for excellent tide pooling and mud fighting (see the top photo).

Walking a bit farther down the trail, there is a tower that you can climb for a tremendous view of the tidal flats and the marsh. Bring your binoculars and camera as it is also a spectacular location for spotting the birds hanging out including Bewick’s Wren, Chestnut-backed Chickadees and a variety of Warbler as well as Kingfisher, Eagles, Heron and Killdeer.

I’m told that late Summer and early Fall bring Seals with pups to the bay (don’t get too close), while Chum and Coho Salmon run in the streams near the tower in the mid- and late Fall. Can’t wait to head back out there and see it for ourselves.

At low tide, you can walk all the way around the point and connect up with the short trail at Ships Point Park, making a very full day out of this adventure – well worth the 23km drive south of town.

Bring extra clothes, lots of water and a picnic lunch as you will, most definitely, not want to leave.