Sometimes it is the unexpected mini adventures that turn out to be the most fun! I’d marked “China Bowls” on my map of Vancouver Island, and so we were considering taking a peek as we drove between Campbell River and Parksville. We visited on a hot day in August, so I was very glad to take a dip in these mini pools carved out by thousands of years of Perseverance Creek’s cascades carving out bowl-shaped rock formations and mini waterfalls.

Please be aware, that the water level of this creek can vary dramatically depending on the time of year. In August, this was a calming place to relax and swim, but in the springtime, or after heavy rain, this can be a more dangerous location with fast-moving cascades.

 

China Bowls trail map

China Bowls – the basics

Distance: 4km trail (I recorded 5.6km on strava, but that included exploring the river)
Cumulative Elevation gain: 80m
Time: 1.5-2 hours (depending how long you’d like to swim!)
What to bring: The 10 Essentials plus swimming things.
Facilities: Nothing.
Dogs: Great for dogs; But this is an area for mountain bikers, so keep them on a leash.
How hard is it? Pretty easy to reach the creek, but to get up close to the rock formations you might need to jump across rocks and scramble down steep areas.
Extra notes: The rock pools are a great place to swim, and there are even some natural slides. Just be careful as it can be easy to slip of wet rocks.

China Bowls – Getting started

There are a few ways to reach the China Bowls rock formations at Perseverance Creek, but the easiest is via Davis Lake Main FSR, from the edge of Cumberland. We parked on Comox Lake Road, then hiked in through Cumberland Community Forest. The forest service road is easy to follow, if a little boring. But there are plenty of smaller, more interesting trails that you could take. The other trails are built for mountain bikes, so just be ready to step off the trail as cyclists zoom through.

After about 1.9km, you’ll reach a concrete bridge over Perseverance Creek. You want to turn off here and explore along the riverbed to find the potholes and bowl-like rock formations. The photo below is the trail you want to follow.

This is the first view of the potholes (they are sometimes known as Cumberland Potholes, or Perseverance Potholes, rather than China Bowls.) It’s hard to see how interesting the shape of the rocks are from above… keep walking down the river to see more waterfalls and bowls.

Geology of China Bowls

These rounded out shapes have been carved by swirling currents, especially during periods of high water flow. Some of the shapes are perfect mini bathing pools, while others are smaller like bowls or teacups. Sometimes rocks get caught in one of the bowls; these get swished around to further hollow out the sandstone.

Swimming in the potholes

The water collects into small pools, and then has a chance to warm up, so it was actually quite pleasant to paddle around the rock formations. Most of the pools are small, so it’s not great for a long swim… it’s more of a place to dunk yourself in the water.

I loved that there are a few mini waterfalls, as well as hidden caves that have been carved out by the creek. There was even a couple of natural water slides!

Then, once you are ready to return, you can follow the way you came back to Comox Lake Road. Or you could easily make a loop from the many bike trails, and return that way.

We spent some time sending up our drone to take a peek at the surrounding forest, mountains and nearby Allen Lake. You can see the whole area around Cumberland is lush and gorgeous. While we sat with our drone, we saw loooads of mountain bikers – it seems like this is a well-loved forest for cycling.

If you are visiting the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island on a hot day, China Bowls is a lovely place to visit and take a dip to cool down. I would like to go back in the springtime to see how it looks when the waters are cascading through the same area.