BC: Shuswap to West Vancouver Island

July 2024 |

After riding the north segment of the Vancouver Island Grand Loop in 2023, I was keen to return to the Island and explore further, with Tofino and Uclulet high on the list. For this trip, I also covered some new routes to the coast from the interior of BC, after having only driven the Coquihala (Highway 5) and Fraser Canyon (Highway 1) routes in the past 50 years.

1742 km / 6 sectors / 30 hrs

Ride 1: Salmon Arm to Lillooet

328 km / 5 hrs

Stayed: BC Hydro Seton Lake Campsite / Free / *****

I did "the usual" Salmon Arm to Kamloops ride on the Trans-Canada Highway 1. Don't get me wrong, if you haven't done this drive, it will blow you away, amazing scenery - but I have done it about 500x. From Kamloops, I wanted to try something different, and rode thru Logan Lake and Ashcroft. This is a great road with little traffic, offering great views of a unique desert ecosystem. Mining is a big around here and after Logan Lake, you ride by the ginourmous Highland Valley Copper Mine, so huge it's surely visible from space - not a good thing; like clear-cut forestry, mining has impacted the landscape and ecology BC in a big (environmentally negative) way. It was my glimpse of large-scale mining here, and wow, the carnage is real, particularly the massive tailing pond that is essentially a sizeable lake multiple kms long, made up of some kind of white liquid, held back by a large dam (see the 2nd picture below).

Right after riding by the "lake" my bike died. I went through about 1 hour of on/off issues and was on the verge of turning around and riding back to Salmon Arm while I had it running. A Harley rider stopped and helped me for an hour and we got the bike running. But as soon as he rode away, it died again. I had a premonition that the connection issue was related to me adding a Quadlock dedicated power connector to my battery - and it turned out that was the issue, a loose connection. I fixed it, rode on, problem resolved (that problem, I mean).

Aftr Ashcroft, I rode on to Cache Creek, then onwards towards Lilooett. One highly recommended stop on this section of road is Pavilion Lake. Renowned for its crystal clear water, the lake is one of a small number of places inhabited by stromatolites, one of the planets oldest life forms; NASA has an astrobiology research facility here.

Next came Lilooett, a place I don't recall having ever visited. And wow, this is a stunning setting - on the mighty Fraser River, surrounded by amazing mountain scenery, and built on 10,000 years of aboriginal culture and more amazing history (apparently it was "the largest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco" at one point during the Gold Rush). I didn't have a solid plan for accommodation when I got to town, but luckily, I found the BC Hydro Seton Lake Campground not far down the road. This place is 5 stars and - get this - it's free! Apparently, the lake nearby is a must see place, with incredibly clear water (I didn't make it this trip, will check it out in future).

Ride 2: Lillooet to Sunshine Coast / Egmont & Klein Lake

355 km / 7 hrs

Stayed: Klein Lake Recreation Site / $15 / ***

Coming out of the BC Hydro campsite you enter a great section of twisty mountain road that takes you through to Pemberton, where I made a stop at McD, and struck up a conversation with an ex-Vancouverite who now lives in Gunn Lake; he told me about the Highline road (places I had never heard of, but stay tuned for more info in a future post). Next rode by Whislter and Squamish, world-famous locales on the west coast. Arrived at Horseshoe Bay and caught the ferry to the Sunshine Coast, first time there in 30 years. Rode through Gibsons and saw the Molly's Reach, as featured in the legendary Canadian TV series The Beachcombers. Was planning to stop in Powell River and stay there, but missed the ferry at Earl's Cove - the gate was closing as I rode in and they wouldn't stop and let me board. It was already later afternoon, and the next ferry was in 2 hours or something. The nearest town was Egmont, so I rode up there. It's a cool place, near the famous Skookumchuk Narrows, a sight to be seen (that I didn't see). The $35 campsite in town (basically a parking lot) didn't appeal to me, so I asked around and learned of Klein Lake campground, a remote basic site 20 minutes out of town.

Ride 3: Klein Lake to Comox

95 km / 4 hrs

Stayed: Kin Beach Provincial Park $15 ****

After Klein Lake, I rode the short distance back to Earl's Cove, caught the ferry, then rode on to Powell River to catch the ferry to Comox. I had some time to kill, so rode further up to old part of Powell River, a sawmill company town. One interesting feature here is a breakwater built around the mill, built of old warship hulls. Caught the ferry, and rode the short distance to Kin Beach Provincial Park, an absolute gem of a public campsite near Courtenay and Comox.

Ride 4: Comox to Uclulet & Tofino

205 km / 4 hrs

Stayed: Lost Shoe #2 Campground ***

From Kin Beach I rode on the old coast road, via Mac's Oysters for a re-supply, to Qualicum, then Port Alberni. From there It's a world-class ride through jagged mountains and along a classic BC river valley. I stayed 2 nights at Lost Shoe, which is as colorful as its name suggests. At C$40 a night, it was pretty pricey for a very basic campsite - but things are expensive in these parts (and it's almost impossible to get a government campsite in this area, unless you book well in advance or luck out and score a last-minute cancellation). When I rode into the campsite, a black bear was scoping out the site beside mine (the only tent onsite) - a bit of a concern, yes, but it didn't scare me away (whereas th bear ran off). I did a day trip to Tofino, only 40 minutes away, stopped in Long Beach, and explored around Uclulet both days. Both are incredible, with stunning scenery and are cool little towns. The recent Shogun series was filmed around Uclulet. On day 3, I headed out, stopping at Sproat Lake. Unfortunately, I wasn't then aware Coulson Aviation is HQ'ed there - they are a world-leading forest fire fighting company and flew the last Martin Mars flying boat, a WW2-era relic. Had I known, I would have tried to check it out (BTW: Coulson has an excellent social media presence showing their aircraft and capabilities).

Ride 5: Uclulet to Yellowpoint & Nainamo

218 km / 3 hrs

Stayed: My Aunt Loreen's *****

Ucluet to Qaukicum was backtracking. From there I rode on to Yellow Point for a quick visit with my Mum, who spends a week at Yellow Point Lodge every summer; the place is like heaven on earth. Next, I dropped in on my Aunt Loreen for another round of great hospitality and had a good catch-up with my cousin. Added bonus, I did the Sunday fun dive with Sundown Diving.

Ride 6: Nainamo to Salmon Arm

541 km / 7 hrs

After 2 nights in Nanaimo I caught the ferry at Departure Bay, bypassed Vancouver via the north shore, and rode on mental auto-pilot back to Salmon Arm via Highway 5 (the cornerstone of the absurdly named "Highway Thru Hell" TV series).