The Menzies Creek Estuary is located in Menzies Bay. This is a very beautiful estuary – one that l have always enjoyed hiking around in. At low tide, you can really get around easily. There are huge clam & oyster beds, along with other creatures, like the mudflat crabs, that are everywhere!
The creek is beautiful, & slow running – a lovely shaded place, with big trees along its banks, almost prehistoric! It always gives me such a good feeling, to just sit and watch the birds & little creatures that abound here, moving about, under & in the giant trees.
There is a feeling of peace throughout the creek, estuary, and bay, now, that until a few years ago would have been impossible to find here. This was such a busy logging dump & booming ground. The noise level was one that you just couldn’t get away from!
In 1951 Bloedel, Stewart & Welch merged with H.R. MacMillan to form MacMillan Bloedel Limited. The two companies had timber holdings in the same areas. Bloedel, Stewart, and Welch held many timber licenses and H.R. MacMillan was a driving force in new ways to log and had the ambition to exceed. The merger in 1951 created a company that was able to thrive on the global scene. They had a big booming ground here in the Bay, back then.
MacMillan and Bloedel owned many logging operations on Vancouver Island, including the Menzies Bay Division. They had camps where over 300 men lived and worked. There was a big camp at Menzies Bay, and up the valley from the Bay, at Brewster Lake, there was another very large camp with many families living in it. Camp life was great! In the early years, a camp was more like a small town, with homes for families, schools for the children, and a camp store. Menzies Bay was quite an active place in its day!
There still is some logging going on that uses the Bay to boom, but not like in the old days. Now, there are great trails and places to picnic.