Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Michael Lanza, family, and friends hiked the “Finest Walk In The World” in 2025.
They went hut-to-hut, the guided option. The easiest way to get a permit on that famous walk.
Lanza posted a terrific trip report and put together an up-to-date eBook on how to organize this adventure for yourself.
LEARNING TO—LOVE?—THE RAIN ON NEW ZEALAND’S MILFORD TRACK
Check our Milford Information page for more.
by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Part of my off-season conditioning for hiking is running about 30 minutes / day during the winter. Happily, I can do that easily on Vancouver Island as the climate is so mild. We don’t get much snow.
Most days I run Rathtrevor Beach.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I also like running around Englishman River Falls. VIDEO.
If I don’t run, I do 10 sets of stairs. instead. VIDEO.
My best pace this winter was about 5:47 minutes / km. BUT I mostly run leisurely, stopping for photos whenever I want.
Greg and Lori had a week long holiday on Vancouver Island.
Greg and I got out for an electric bike ride to Goats on the Roof. And a hike on the Little Mountain cycling trails.
Does Greg look happy? He should — having retired the end of last year. 😀
by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
I’d argue that the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region is the best place to live in Canada — for year round outdoor recreation.
My parents live in Parksville. And — when visiting — I can cycle and hike year round.
Protected by Mt. Arrowsmith, the coast gets very little snow. And temperatures rarely drop below freezing.
Of course this is a rain forest. 😀
Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located on the east coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
It was designated in 2000 by UNESCO to protect a large second-growth coast Douglas fir ecosystem in the watersheds of the Little Qualicum and Englishman Rivers from being developed. …
Protected areas located within the biosphere reserve include:[5]
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
by site editor Rick McCharles
The BEST thing about coastal Vancouver Island ➙ we can hike and cycle year round.
As I post in January, we’ve yet to have any snow in Parksville.
This YouTube #short was shot on iPhone 16 Pro in vertical. In and around Qualicum Beach.
Most of the clips were shot in the Heritage Forest, a 50-acre pocket of old growth coastal Douglas fir, western red cedar, grand fir, Sitka spruce, and hemlock.
Personally, the many wildly varied stumps I found most photogenic.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
#FakeNews. 😀 … There is no lighthouse on this inland trail.
Lighthouse Country is a tourist designation for a coastal region just north of Qualicum Beach consisting of smaller communities: Dashwood, Qualicum Bay, Dunsmuir, Bowser, and Deep Bay.
It’s named for the offshore lighthouses on Sisters Island and Chrome Island.
Lighthouse Country Regional Trail is an easy — family friendly — 5.6-km loop that takes an average of 1 h 23 min to complete.
The trail was dry and in great shape, even in chilly December.
Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.
I did find the Nile Creek logging road less interesting than the portion closer to the ocean. You could walk north from the parking lot, then backtrack whenever you wish to enjoy the most scenic sections twice.
If you do the entire loop, feel free to call it the Lighthouse Loop.
There are other trails to explore aside from the loop, of course.
Though you don’t really need a map, I followed AllTrails.
related – nearby, more challenging, Nile Creek Trail
Jamaica is not exactly renown for hiking.
But Paul Clammer posted a list of the 6 best hikes in Jamaica for tropical adventurers.
Click PLAY or watch tourist highlights on YouTube.
For a hiker, B.C. is an ideal holiday destination.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
My favourite season for hiking is autumn.
The colours, for sure.
Sunlight low in the sky.
But even more is the melancholy of days getting shorter. The year coming to an end.
Most of the trees in the Vancouver Island rain forest are evergreen. But there are enough deciduous to make for wonderful scenes.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
besthike.com 