Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
The WCT was closed all of 2020.
We still don’t know if it will reopen for 2021. Reservations might open in April.
Read our WCT information page.
While we wait, here’s a cute short video that captures the feel of the adventure.
ESPECIALLY the ladders.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Want to see more?
Watch Sean Tilden’s lovely edit.
One of the official GREAT WALKS.
I’d love to travel there again soon as they’ve done such a terrific job limiting the health and economic damage from COVID.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
One of the best urban hikes in the world.
Click PLAY or watch part 1 on YouTube.
Watch the rest of the series on YouTube.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.
Click PLAY or watch a Christmas Eve hike on YouTube.
Jack Point is a 5.1 kilometer moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada that features beautiful wild flowers and is good for all skill levels.
The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, and trail running and is accessible year-round.
AllTrails
Biggs Point is the name of the park along one side of Duke Point, leading to Jack Point, the park that covers the tip of the peninsula. Everyone knows the Duke Point Ferry Terminal, the run to Tsawwassen in Vancouver.
YES all those names for the same place is confusing. Trail signage says Jack Point.
In fact, if you are ever having to wait for the ferry, hiking Jack Point would be an ideal nearby diversion.
This short trail is fascinating: arbutus trees, boardwalk, wooden staircases, weird and wild erosion, sand-stone caves, small light house. Plenty of wildlife.
Excellent views of the Nanaimo River estuary, dowtown Nanaimo, Protection Island and Gabriola Island.
related – sea2peak trip report
Our #1 hike in the world — West Coast Trail — was closed all of 2020 due to COVID. Hopefully it will reopen in 2021.
Right next door is the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.
It’s one of the great alternatives to the WCT. Logistics are much easier. And it’s less expensive.
Vancouver Island experts MB Guiding have a Juan de Fuca Marine Trail Guide online.
Check that for planning. And get a copy of the best hiking guidebook – Coastal Hikes.
Tom Scott:
The Broomway is surrounded on both sides by quicksand and deep, sucking mud. It has no markers and no guideposts.
And if you mistime your walk, you won’t outrun the tide.
Oh, and it’s in the middle of a Ministry of Defence firing range.
But most of the time, if you want to visit Foulness Island, it’s the only way.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Late November we’re still seeing hundreds / thousands of ducks and geese at low tide.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I thought I’d heard of ALL major New Zealand tramps. I lived there for a year.
The 27 km Nydia Track in the Sounds area of Marlborough is an easy 2 day tramp. Plan on an overnight stop at Nydia Bay.
World Expeditions offers a guided tour.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Lantzville Lookout is a popular day hike off the Copley Ridge network of trails near Lantzville on Vancouver Island.
Regional District of Nanaimo is still trying to make the Lookout official, as of August 2020.
In the meantime, signage is home made. I can’t say it’s easy to find.
I went in November. A relaxing day hike.
It’s a steady climb. But getting to the Lookout makes it worthwhile.
Some young people had set up at the campfire on the Copley Ridge trail. They had just departed as I returned.
It was a mellow hike. So I put together a mellow video. As always, audio is just as important as video.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.
I’d previously hiked two other sections of the (roughly) 180km Sunshine Coast Trail:
Sarah Point to Manzanita hut (2015)
Mowat Bay to Lois Main (2016)
Pestered by wasps and other biting insects on those two earlier trips, I deliberately returned late season. No bugs.
This time I headed for the Troubridge Trudge section:
Oct 24 – Lang Bay to Golden Stanley hut (km 145)
Oct 25 – Golden Stanley to Mt Troubridge hut (km 158)
Oct 26 – Troubridge to Fairview Bay hut (km 173)
Oct 27 – Fairview to Lang Bay (km 180)
You can hike 42km in either direction. It’s called the trudge as this is the highest section of the Sunshine Coast Trail.
More maps.
Having reached the Sunshine Coast via ferry from Comox, I stayed in a Powell River hotel.
Weather forecast looking good next morning, I cycled down to Lang Bay.
A lovely autumn day.
Hid my bike in the trees close to the highway near Lang Bay.
Walked the gravel road called Canoe Main to join the Sunshine Coast Trail on Lois lake. (I could have walked Lois Main, the older road.)
Lois lake was created by a dam.
The mountains beyond the lake look tempting.
You eventually turn uphill inland on a trail towards Elephant lake.
It’s steep but not all that far to Golden Stanley hut, completed 2016. It’s not mentioned in my guidebook published 2013, of course.
I was carrying my tent as I’d seen online that the huts were closed due to COVID-19.
But the hut was open after all. Since I was the only person there, I moved in.
Impressive pit toilet.
Oct 25 – Golden Stanley to Mt Troubridge hut (km 158)
Mt Troubridge is the highest point on the Sunshine Coast Trail. I was happy to have good weather.
On the other hand, surprised to see snow at such low elevation in October.
It was Ho Ho Ho. 😀
In 2020 everyone takes the newer of two possible trails to the summit. The best route is always well signed.
I still easily reached Troubridge hut by early afternoon.
Here’s how it looks in summer.
And here’s how it looked when I arrived.
Mt Troubridge hut was flown up in pieces by helicopter.
It replaced the Troubridge Hilton, a small communications hut that’s now more used as an emergency shelter on the top of the mountain.
I assumed I’d have Troubridge hut to myself again when Chris and his dog arrived. Rather than sharing a small space, Chris took the A-frame. I stayed in the hut on my own.
He had the views of Jervis inlet and could see all the way to Powell River.
Turns out winter camping is quite comfortable — when you can sleep in a hut rather than a tent.
I took plenty of winter wonderland video. And later managed to accidentally delete most of it. Somehow. 😕
Oct 26 – Troubridge to Fairview Bay hut (km 173)
More good weather. I was worried the descent might be slippery, but new snow was mostly grippy. No problems in approach shoes.
Navigation no problem in winter either.
I stopped 800m lower for lunch at Rainy Day lake (km 169) which has a hut.
Winter hiking is much different than doing the same thing in summer.
Eventually snow disappeared. Went away. Like magic. 😀
It got easier on the way down to Fairview Bay.
Again I had the hut to myself.
And again I had plenty of time for photos.
There’s the ferry I’ll be catching to North Vancouver.
Next morning a leisurely 2 hour walk out. Autumn is my favourite time of year for hiking.
This is the end of the South Coast Trail. But I have one section left to finish, close to Powell River. Looking forward to it already.
I had to telephone the bus for pick-up. But it only cost $2.25 to get me back to Lang Bay where I retrieved my bike.
If you want to learn more about Canada’s longest hut-to-hut hike, check first the official website and our own information page:
BestHike – Sunshine Coast Trail
