Nanaimo to Tofino

Danger danger!!

Here we go again with the "electronic trip" providers giving really bad directions. I have met a few very confused people in the bush that were given instructions that put them onto one of the many logging roads of Vancouver Island.

The road that goes around Comox Lake is an industrial logging road! Yes, it's possible, but do you want to shake your unit apart? I doubt it.

The normal route is get to the Island either via Victoria or Nanaimo and head north. You can do the tourist route by deeking off at Parksville and stopping at a great country market in Coombs or stay on the 4 lane and turn off at the quaint village of Qualicum and head west.

Less than an hour from Parksville to Port Alberni and about two hours to Tofino from there. Sproat lake has a nice provincial campground and is a great swimming lake if you need a stop along the way.

Port Alberni has nice quay at the waterfront and bakery that does home made donuts!

It's a super paved road all the way with some great scenery too. Follow the road to Port Alberni first, then on to Tofino.

It is slow and twisty in some spots, but done with all kinds of rigs every day. Nothing to worry about.

Artum Snowbird wrote:
It's a super paved road all the way with some great scenery too. Follow the road to Port Alberni first, then on to Tofino.

It is slow and twisty in some spots, but done with all kinds of rigs every day. Nothing to worry about.

x2

And check out both Tofino and Uculet. Uculet often gets left out but they are both worthy of look-see's. And don't fall in love with Tofino...the real estate prices are out of this world.


Gary Haupt

Thanks Wet Coast,
Yes, have been directed through a farmers field by Streets and Trips. Have learned to trust but verify....hence this post ;-).

Thanks for the feed back. Hwy 4 seemed like the logical choice. I do like country markets and donuts, will put Parksville and Coombs on our route. Thanks for the tips.

Plan to stay at Rathtrevor Provincial park in Parkville and will be sure to spend some time in Uculet. Crystal Cove seems like a nice park near Tofino. Would love to see the sea planes near Port Alberni. Thanks for the help.

Rolin wrote:
We are planning to visit Vancouver Island after Labor Day and would appreciate you inputs on the route from Nanaimo to Tofino. Was planning to take hwy 4 from Qualicum Beach across to the West Coast.

Streets and Trips routes us up to Cumberland and across the top of Comox Lake then down to Hwy 4 at Kleecoot. Seems like it is is a lot further to drive.

Didn't know if Hwy 4 from Qualicum is a bad road or ?

Appreciate any inputs you might have.

First: THROW STREETS AND TRIPS AWAY! It is obviously either so far out of date or incorrectly programmed that it cannot be trusted. If you need/want a GPS plotter, fine, but DO NOT blindly follow it.

Second: Follow the signs. When coming up from Nanaimo, you do have a couple choices. You can take highway 4a either by going through Parksville or by taking the exit off highway 19. I suggest going through Parksville as trying to turn left onto highway 4a at the overpass can be an exercise in frustration. Through Parksville affords light controlled intersections. Not to mention other things to do on your way through. You will also go through Coombs.

You other highway 4 option is to continute up highway 19 until the highway 4 turn-off. This is a 270 degree loop that puts you in the right direction. If you want Coombs, though, you have to turn left at the light (4 & 4a intersection).

Third: Once you are coming out to the west coast (leaving Port Alberni), be warned, the road is twisty, turny, hilly, bumpy, grindy, and probably a dozen more "-y"s that I've missed. The drive to Ucluelet is about 100km (60 miles) Petro-Can River Road (Port Alberni) to Petro-Can Ucluelet, and about 140km Petro-Can River Road to Tofino. The standard is 1 hr 30 minutes. Locals will do it in just over an hour. HOWEVER, if you've never driven the road before, I recommend you take 2 hours. And use the pull-outs if you have traffic following you (it is in fact a law in this province now). This means pulling into the pull-out and slowing, STOPPING if required, to let traffic pass.

Make sure you have your camera handy (or have your right-seater operate it). Lots of spots for pictures of scenery.

BTW, this is also construction on the highway in several locations. BCHydro (our power company) is presently replacing almost every power pole along highway 4. There are usually 2 locations going during the day where the contractors are working. Wait is is usually fairly short, but is single lane alternating traffic. Also, along Kennedy Lake there is a major construction zone wherein 2 culverts are being inatalled. Again, single lane alternating traffic, over 1 long zone. And this area is 24/7 flagger controlled traffic until complete.

Other than that, enjoy your stay!

Cheers!
Mike (yes, I live in Ucluelet)

Hi ve7prt,
Thanks for the insights.

I will print out comments from this thread and keep it with us as we go so we can reference it. We will plan on allowing extra time on hwy 4, we do use the turnouts, its the law here in Oregon as well.

I agree....no one should blindly follow these GPS map tools. However, it is very helpful when planning our trips and for 95% of our travels. I can get a general idea of fuel costs and the time/distance between stops. Plus we have POI list in it that shows Costcos, Walmarts, Truckstops, Casinos, Campgrounds, Hospitals, Mcdonalds, and Tim Hortons ;-). DW has her paper maps so we can verify what the GPS is telling us and mostly keep us out of trouble ;-).

I really appreciate everyone's feedback on local conditions and
routing. Thanks.
Edited 9/1/15

Rolin wrote:
Hi ve7prt,
Thanks for the insights.

I will print out comments from this thread and keep it with us as we go so we can reference it. We will plan on allowing extra time on hwy 4, we do use the turnouts, its the law here in Oregon as well.

I agree....no one should blindly follow these GPS map tools. However, it is very helpful when planning our trips and for 95% of our travels. I can get a general idea of fuel costs and the time/distance between stops. Plus we have POI list in it that shows Costcos, Walmarts, Truckstops, Casinos, Campgrounds, Hospitals, Mcdonalds, and Tim Hortons ;-). DW has her paper maps so we can verify what the GPS is telling us and mostly keep us out of trouble ;-).

I really appreciate everyone's feedback on local conditions and
routing. Thanks.
Edited 9/1/15

I've had GPS in my vehicle since long before it was fashionable. At the time most units were the marine style. As such, I use a Lowrance marine plotter. It shows me where I am and it shows me where I want to go. I do the nagivation between those locations. No "Bitching Betty" or "Rambling Ron" trying to guide me (tried that once, it told me to perform maneuvers that were not physically possible in my truck).

Anyway, as of this writing, the Kennedy Lake culvert construction appears to be complete. But other construction is occurring in addition to the hydro pole replacement project.

At any rate, enjoy your trip out. You might even see my truck (khaki colored Ram 3500 with LOTS of antennas on it).

Cheers!
Mike

Approaching Comox Lake from the north:



Vancouver Island logging traffic - this on the gravel road to Bamfield

Great pictures paulj.
Don't think we saw your truck ve7vrt.

We spent some time in Sydney and enjoyed the bakery there and the water front. Then had a great day at Butchart Gardens...always looks so nice.

We really liked the Rathtrevor Prov park. Would like to have spent more time there.

The last 1/3 of hwy4 over to the west side of Vancouver Island was interesting. Thankfully there was not a lot of traffic because some of the big trucks or tour buses would need to take there half of the road out of the middle because of the rock overhangs on the inside lane.

We did drive down to Ucluelet but there was not much rv type parking. We didn't go down toward the marina, there may have been more parking down there.

Enjoyed exploring the area around Tofino. Liked the Common loaf bake shop (could have spent more time there) and had fish and chips at Big Daddys fish fry.

We wanted to spend more time in Victoria but the campground was all booked. Enjoyed the water taxis and fish and chips at Barbara's. We walked around Victoria and spent some time at Beacon Hill.

I should have reserved a spot on the ferry from Victoria to Port Angels. Since they had three or four sailings a day, it didn't seem necessary....wrong. The only sailing we could book was at 7:30pm. Put us in to Port Angels in the dark which was not fun.

We had a great time and got our fill of Tim Bits. Even put some in the freezer to bring home ;-).

Thanks to all for your feedback and recommendations.