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Letting all of it's filaments hand out in the flowing tidal waters in a back eddy on the northern shore of Sechelt Inlet. The whole bay at the observation lookout is peppered with these red bodied creatures that like to cling between rocks and put out their feelers in search of dinner. This red, cucumber shaped creature grows to about 10 inches long and has variations of body color from bright orange, to brick red and sometimes purple. It is long and rounded, tapered at the rear, smooth and tough. I has 10 highly branched, orange red, retractable tentacles at the mouth end and five rows of tube feet. It is usually found nestled in crevices and under rocks near the low tide line and below to shallow depths from Alaska coastline to Central California..

This park was established in 1957. Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park provides trails and viewing areas for visitors who wish to experience the awesome power of incredibly turbulent tidal rapids. On a 3 meter tide, 200 billion gallons of water flow through the narrows connecting Sechelt and Jervis Inlet.

The difference in water levels between one side of the rapids and the other sometimes exceeds 2 meters in height. Current speeds can exceed 30km/hr. The rapids are famous for their spectacular whirlpools and whitewater.

There are opportunities to view tidal rapids, waterfowl and abundant marine life at various tidal levels. Brown Lake provides further waterfowl viewing opportunities.

“Skookumchuck” is a Chinook name meaning turbulent water or rapid torrent. The park was originally included as part of the Sechelt Provincial Forest in 1934 and remained provincial forest until the 1950’s when the Department of Recreation and Conservation studied the recreational and tourism potential of the site. As a result, the outstanding scenic and interesting features of the rapids (covering 40.5 ha) were removed from the provincial forest and established as a Class A park. Over the years, more area has been added to the park, to bring it to its current size of 123 hectares.

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