page_title: Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
section_title: Tumbo Island - Cabbage Island
hierarchical_section_title: Gulf Islands National Park Reserve / Geography / Tumbo Island - Cabbage Island
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a zoomed-in copy of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saturna_Island.jpg to illustrate Tumbo Island and Cabbage Island. Reef Harbour separates the two islands. They are part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve in British Columbia, Canada. Tumbo Island is an example of a tombolo. In the foreground is Saturna Island. The bodies of water are the Boundary Pass in the background and the Strait of Georgia on the left. The islands in the background are part of the San Juan Islands in the United States of America.
context_page_description: Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is a national park located on and around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada. In the National Parks System Plan, this park provides representation of the Strait of Georgia Lowlands natural region, the only place in Canada with a Mediterranean climate of dry, sunny summers and mild, wet winters, the result of a rain shadow effect from surrounding mountains between the region and the ocean. It has similar dominant vegetation as the Pacific Northwest, such as coastal Douglas-fir, western red cedar, shore pine, Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, and red alder, but also contains the northern extent of some of the more drought tolerant trees such as Garry oak and Arbutus. The park was created in 2003 as the fortieth national park. It covers 36 square kilometres of area on 16 islands and more than 30 islets, reefs and surrounding waters, making it the sixth smallest national park in Canada.
context_section_description: Located off Saturna Island's northeastern shore, Tumbo Island and Cabbage Island are connected to each other by a reef, exposed at low tide. Cabbage Island, purchased by the Nature Conservancy from private owners in 1976, was developed as a provincial marine park between 1978 and 2004 with anchorage and moorage areas in Reef Harbour and a campground and on the 4.5 ha (11 acres) island. Tumbo, 121 ha (299 acres) in area and named in reference to a tombolo, was acquired by the province in the Pacific Marine Heritage Legacy program from a Californian for $3.7 million with the provision that he was able to keep his cottage and care-taker suite. Prior to its use as private property (since 1877) for timber harvesting, coal mining, mink farming, and recreational living, it was used by the Coast Salish people when crossing or working in the strait. Tumbo is also only accessible by boats via Reef Harbour and it beach accesses but while it does not have a campground does have a 3.5 km trail, with views of the San Juan Islands.
caption: Tumbo and Cabbage Islands off the coast of Saturna Island (foreground)
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