Vancouver island and Prince Rupert to Jasper.
Woohoo. Camping season is almost upon us. Last year we explored up to parksville and then over to Ucluelet and Tofino. This year our intention is to make a great circle and go from the Okanagan to th...
Forum Discussion
There's lot to see and recommend; may be it'll be easiest to enumerate my trips
1980s - Sunshine Coast (kayak Sechalt), Powell River, Comox, Tofino (beach camp), Victoria, Port Renfrew (Botanical Beach)
- With trailer sailboat, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Kayokot Inlet
- return from Alaska via Stewart, Terrace, PG, Jasper, Banff, Calgary
1990s - Powell River, Campbell River, Strathcona PP, Victoria
- Carmanah PP (major gravel road)
- Gulf Islands, esp. Ruckel PP on Salt Spring
2000s - Campbell River, Ralph River (Strathcona), Port Hardy, Cape Scott (gravel), Little Quilcene
- Port McNeill, Malcom Island, Port Hardy, 24 May boat to Prince Rupert, week on Haida Gwaii, PR, Terrace, PG, Wells Gray
- Williams Lake, Bella Coola, and back (lots of gravel).
- Englishman Falls PP, Mt Washington Ski area hiking, back roads from Comox to Port ALberni, Bayfield, Carmanah, Gordon Bay, Port Renfrew, Victoria.
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In a sense I could pick almost any provincial park on the Island and find good camping and hiking. But trying to focus on Parksvile and north. Originally the drive north was a bit slow, but scenic along the coast. Now its freeway all the way to Campbell River.
There's lot to see around CR - Elk Falls PP, Strathcona PP, Quadra Island.
The next leg is through more remote working forest, with a scattering of Rec Sites and PP, but not a lot of sights close to the highway. Little Huson Caves is worth a stop.
At Port McNeill you are back at the coast, with a short ferry ride to 2 nearby islands, and other coastal fishing resorts. Closer to Port Hardy, there's nice beach hiking at Fort Rupert.
When we drove this in May, the run to Prince Rupert had several stops and took 24+ hrs; summer run I believe is 12 hrs. We had a small dog, who tolerated the long ride, but didn't enjoy it.
An alternative to PR would be Bella Coola; that's a shorter ferry, and over all I think the BC area is more interesting the PR (unless you go out to the Islands).
Between ferries at Prince Rupert we drove inland to Terrace, and south to Kitimat - that's industrial, but there's a nice big lake on the way.
Further inland on 16, New Hazelton and Ksan Village/Museum is worth a stop.
There's probably more to see along 16, but both times I drove it, I was pushing to get beyond Prince George, so didn't look too much at sights.
Anyways, it's been fun taking a mental inventory of many trips up there. I don't know if we'll get back to BC any time soon.
(p.s. this thread might be moved to the Canada/Alaska section, where Canadians may be able to add more)
1980s - Sunshine Coast (kayak Sechalt), Powell River, Comox, Tofino (beach camp), Victoria, Port Renfrew (Botanical Beach)
- With trailer sailboat, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Kayokot Inlet
- return from Alaska via Stewart, Terrace, PG, Jasper, Banff, Calgary
1990s - Powell River, Campbell River, Strathcona PP, Victoria
- Carmanah PP (major gravel road)
- Gulf Islands, esp. Ruckel PP on Salt Spring
2000s - Campbell River, Ralph River (Strathcona), Port Hardy, Cape Scott (gravel), Little Quilcene
- Port McNeill, Malcom Island, Port Hardy, 24 May boat to Prince Rupert, week on Haida Gwaii, PR, Terrace, PG, Wells Gray
- Williams Lake, Bella Coola, and back (lots of gravel).
- Englishman Falls PP, Mt Washington Ski area hiking, back roads from Comox to Port ALberni, Bayfield, Carmanah, Gordon Bay, Port Renfrew, Victoria.
---
In a sense I could pick almost any provincial park on the Island and find good camping and hiking. But trying to focus on Parksvile and north. Originally the drive north was a bit slow, but scenic along the coast. Now its freeway all the way to Campbell River.
There's lot to see around CR - Elk Falls PP, Strathcona PP, Quadra Island.
The next leg is through more remote working forest, with a scattering of Rec Sites and PP, but not a lot of sights close to the highway. Little Huson Caves is worth a stop.
At Port McNeill you are back at the coast, with a short ferry ride to 2 nearby islands, and other coastal fishing resorts. Closer to Port Hardy, there's nice beach hiking at Fort Rupert.
When we drove this in May, the run to Prince Rupert had several stops and took 24+ hrs; summer run I believe is 12 hrs. We had a small dog, who tolerated the long ride, but didn't enjoy it.
An alternative to PR would be Bella Coola; that's a shorter ferry, and over all I think the BC area is more interesting the PR (unless you go out to the Islands).
Between ferries at Prince Rupert we drove inland to Terrace, and south to Kitimat - that's industrial, but there's a nice big lake on the way.
Further inland on 16, New Hazelton and Ksan Village/Museum is worth a stop.
There's probably more to see along 16, but both times I drove it, I was pushing to get beyond Prince George, so didn't look too much at sights.
Anyways, it's been fun taking a mental inventory of many trips up there. I don't know if we'll get back to BC any time soon.
(p.s. this thread might be moved to the Canada/Alaska section, where Canadians may be able to add more)
Greetings PaulJ,
Your post was a bit of a godsend as my Saintly Spouse and I are planning a visit to Vancouver Island next summer and all advice is truly welcomed! I gather you've spent some time there, Tofino (beach camp), Victoria, Port Renfrew (Botanical Beach).
If you are monitoring this, I'd love to lob a few more questions in your direction.
-Just one for starters, we'll be bringing our 25' class C RV over to the island from Vancouver. If you had three nights to spend down there, before going north, where would you stay and what (of the many candidates) would do?
I'm in charge of planning this part of a longer trip and I have a couple weeks on the island to play with.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
-Grouchy
If you have some time to spend in Victoria, take in the Provincial museum. We ate not big on museums, but this one is worth the time. In my opinion, it as good as the American History museum at the Smithsonian
safe travels.
We have camped in Victoria a couple times but not done that. We’ll check it out.
