Imagine. It's Saturday morning. The work week was long but the weekend offers no relief. Housework, homework, regular work; family and social commitments all threaten to choke the life out of your already-stressed body and spirit. You'd kill for some fresh air, a moment of peace, a chance just to breathe. You can't take your vacation time because you took it last month, and even if you did have a week off, what would you do? You have three hours, just three hours to rejuvenate. What do you do? If you live in Nanaimo, the possibilities are nearly endless.

Nanaimo, British Columbia is a beautiful place. It sits between the mountains of Vancouver Island and the calm waters of the Strait of Georgia. The city itself has pockets of green space in the form of parks and playgrounds. The real goldmines, however, exist just on the edges of the city, where you can escape the sounds of traffic, and the subliminal reminders that you should be rushing to somewhere.

While the following is by no means a comprehensive list of the places to visit in or near Nanaimo, I hope that it will serve as an effective introduction the green spaces of the city for the newcomer, or for someone like me who took years to realize what a beautiful place she was living in. I should also note that to call most of these trails 'hikes' is to stretch the word to its most liberal definition. While Ammonite Falls and the Extension Ridge trail have some moderately challenging sections, you could take grandma with her bad knees on the Cable Bay Trail.