The two Burde Street ponds — lower and upper (a.k.a. the Beaver Pond) — are in second-growth forest near the Arrowview Heights neighbourhood of Port Alberni. The ponds are largely on privately owned land, but they can be accessed from the Log Train Trail, a public right-of-way. North of the ponds is Crown Land, including Woodlot License W1902 operated by Hupacasath First Nation.
© Daryl Henderson
Winter and spring waterfowl include Ring-necked Duck in good numbers, Bufflehead, occasional Pied-billed Grebe; year-round — Hooded Merganser, Great Blue Heron; nesters — Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Hooded Merganser.
Other species include Barred Owl; Belted Kingfisher; Red-breasted Sapsucker and other woodpeckers — Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Northern Flicker; flycatchers — Willow, Hammond’s, Pacific-slope; Chestnut-backed Chickadee; Red-breasted Nuthatch; Pacific Wren; kinglets — Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned; Varied and Swainson’s Thrush; Dark-eyed Junco; Song Sparrow; Spotted Towhee; wood warblers, including Orange-crowned, MacGillivray’s, Yellow-rumped; Townsend’s (large numbers nest in trees along the Beaver Pond Trail and near the cutblocks at the top of this trail); Western Tanager.
© Daryl Henderson
Beaver and river otter can be seen in both ponds, but best be there early in the morning to increase the odds.
Bears are common in spring, summer and fall.
From the Visitor Info Centre (2533 Port Alberni Hwy, at the Y-junction with Hwy 4), turn R onto Port Alberni Hwy and continue to Redford St (~3.1 km); turn L at 17th Ave and continue for ~400 m; turn L at Burde St and continue for ~400 m; park on the wide shoulder just before Bracken Ln; the trail entrance (Log Train Trail) is marked by a yellow gate.
The lower pond is ~150 m down the trail, on the right. Approx. 420 m from the gate is the trail to the Beaver Pond — turn R at the sign post and follow this connector trail to the upper pond (~300 m); the connector trail is often very birdy.
Turning R at the top of the rise, now the Beaver Pond Trail, takes you past the south end of the pond and eventually back to Burde St.
For a longer walk through forest, turn L (north) and head up the Beaver Pond Trail for ~1.4 km, to where it joins the Log Train Trail. This 1.4-km segment takes you past several recent cutblocks, across a small creek (Wolf Creek; dry in summer), past the Bear Den Trail, and through a grove of live and dead deciduous trees, which is often a good place to spot woodpeckers. A Barred Owl pair has nested in this area for several years; they can be heard calling, if not seen.
At the junction marked with a signpost, turning R takes you down to Roger Creek (~200 m) and the Roger Creek Nature Trail. A trestle nearly 290 m in length once spanned this ravine and Roger Creek. Turning L at the junction takes you first to Wolf Creek (this section is steep on both sides of the creek) and then back to Burde St along the Log Train Trail, a flat and mostly straight route, part of an old railway grade (~1.2 km).