Loudon Park on Long Lake is a popular lake located in North Nanaimo, it is a very popular spot for swimming, fishing, and quite a variety of paddling sports like canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, rowing, and walking. It’s a nice spot to have a picnic. There is a walking trail that runs between Norwell Dive and 101 Street. It’s a pleasant walking path.
The park and the lake are home to the Nanaimo Canoe & Kayak Club as well as the Nanaimo Rowing Club. The Nanaimo Canoe & Kayak Club is an amateur sports organization that is nonprofit. They offer canoe and kayaking training for beginner to top-of-the-class water sports enthusiasts. They run on the mandate that sports on a recreational basis are character-building. It is their belief that youth who are involved in sports have a better chance of becoming mature and responsible citizens. I must agree and I find that it creates the ability to believe in yourself, plus a true sense of pride in your accomplishments both on the water and all aspects of life.
The Nanaimo Flat Water Racing Club operates is located on Long Lake, it was started in 1988 to train Racers for sprint canoes and kayaks. The is now so much more. They offer not just training in canoes and kayaks but outrigger, dragon boat, and recreational canoe and kayak camps to teach youth safety in these sports. They are a member sport of Sport BC’s Regional Sport Delivery System, they are recognized as the Pacific Sports Island Regional Canoe-Kayak Training Center.
Loudon Park is a very pretty little park located right in town, Nanaimo has many awesome parks and this one is one of the best. The birdlife here is always impressive, and the fishing is good. There is a wheelchair-accessible fishing wharf located here making it a great place for those that have disability issues and this is a good thing.