BX Creek Wetland Boardwalk & Vernon Heronry

Every March the great blue herons come back to Vernon. For close to forty years a colony has nested high in a stand of cottonwoods on the north side of the city, between 20th and 24th streets off 48th Avenue, and the heronry is now federally protected — you cannot enter it, but you do not need to: the surrounding sidewalks give clear views of the huge stick nests, the birds returning to rebuild in March and, later in spring and early summer, the young standing in the nests. The City's BX Creek Wetland Boardwalk Trail is the way to make a morning of it. From the trailhead and parking at Heron Glen Park on 53rd Avenue, the 1.4-kilometre (one-way) route follows crushed stone and long sections of boardwalk around wetland ponds and over several creek crossings, with interpretive signs, benches and a purpose-built lookout for watching the herons, on a surface gentle enough for all ages and abilities. Other access points are on Deleenheer Road (with parking) and at Pleasant Valley Road near Rimer Road. It is a stop on the BC Bird Trail, it is free, and it is open year-round — but this is a nesting area, so dogs and horses are not allowed on the trail, and posted signs around the heronry must be respected. It is a different trail from the BX Falls section up Tillicum Road.