Vancouver island for 3-4 Days?

[smmokan]

I'll be in BC in late April / early May for about two weeks, and I've got 3-4 days of riding to spend in the middle... originally I was planning to be in North Vancouver to ride the north shore mountains, but I thought it might be worth it to hit Vancouver Island instead. If I did, what's recommended for 3-4 days of riding? Is it possible to base in one spot, or would I need to stay in a couple different towns (not a big deal)?
I'm not good enough to take advantage of the DH shuttle stuff on Mt. Prevost, based on what I've seen in videos. For reference, I like steep tech and don't mind pedaling, and can typically ride blacks and "easier" double blacks in Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton, etc.

[BCMtnHound]

I’m usually on Hornby when I have the bike, which may be a bit tame for you (although a dip in Tribune Bay in mid summer after a ride is pretty sweet), but everyone raves about the biking in Cumberland.

[bennymac]

Any of the communities BCBR goes to in their 7 days will have a good network.

Cumberland is a fun place to ride and you can easily do 2 days there - especially if you drive yourself over to the Forbidden Plateau area to get a ride in (having a shuttle vehicle helps if going over there - no shuttle needed/possible for the network next to town)

Nanaimo and Campbell River also have great trails.

You can’t really lose. But I would include time spent riding and staying in Cumberland for sure - it’s a fun community where you can just park your vehicle and do all your riding and all your apres without having to drive anywhere.

[evdog]

Agreed. Parents live in Comox Valley so I ride Cumberland whenever I'm home. Very easy to do as many laps as your legs will allow and infinite ways to switch up and add different trails. Forbidden has been more hit or miss for me due to frequent logging and trails sometimes being in poor shape.

Snowden in Campbell River is pretty good but more xc riding. Hornby Island is really fun and a cool day trip. Sunshine Coast is also worthwhile.

You could even do a circuit, take ferry to Nanaimo, drive to Cumberland, and take ferry back via Sunshine Coast. Ride in each spot. That's a lot of travel for a few days riding though.

Another option vs the Island is to head east in the Fraser Valley and hit stuff like Eagle, Burke, Red, Woodlot, Ledgeview, Vedder.

But you also can't go wrong with a few days on the Shore. Grab Lee and get him to show you all his secret stuff!

April/May should have primo trails pretty much everywhere.

[bennymac]

And to be clear if you base yourself in Cumberland you can ride Nanaimo, Hornby, or Campbell River as day trips

The other suggestions about Fraser Valley or Sea to Sky are also of course amazing areas to ride.

You can’t lose - you’ll just win in different places.

[bamboocoreONLY]

I've heard the bike park at mt washington is decent, can anyone confirm?

[D(C)]

Prevost isn’t all super gnar and you can pedal the road. It’s some of the best descents on the island, even on an enduro bike.

Other spots with good descending:
- South Benson in Nanaimo
- Burnt Bridge
- Harbourside in Sooke
- Jordie Lunn Bike Park (quick laps but fun)

Cumberland is fun but generally more pedally.

I’ve heard good things about Tzouhalem but haven’t ridden there.

[D(C)]

And if you do end up on the Shore, I’d be happy to try to link up.

[smmokan]

That's most likely given the logistics... I rode a couple days there last fall (one Fromme, one Seymour) and there's plenty more I'd like to check out!

[jm2e]

We did a road trip there several years ago. It was raining and wife was nursing an injury, so we were somewhat limited. But what I saw of Cumby and Hornby was a lot more xc than I'd anticipated. Not bad trail by any means, just now the sustained memorable Enduro tracks we thought we'd find. Wish we knew about the Prevost stuff back then. We have a running joke in our house that it seems like every week since then there's been a video on Pinkbike of rad downhills we wish we'd known about. I think that stuff would be great as backyard trails, but it's bonkers to see how much undeveloped (or at least; full of secret trails) land is in the interior or the island relative to the popular established bike areas. If I was there again and the weather was good, I'd explore the North Shore trails.

[bamboocoreONLY]

any good spots to park/camp with a slide in camper truck?

[jm2e]

I'd say the world is your oyster. Or, the island is your oyster. My brief experience on the island left me thinking it would be super easy to camp. The population density is very low.

[evdog]

The Island can be trickier than you'd think for camping because there is a lot of private land until you get up into the mountains. Lots of land down low was given over to timber companies in exchange for building railroads. So a lot of that is either private timberland where dispersed camping is not allowed, or has been sold for development.

On the other hand some of the companies provide campgrounds or dispersed camping in certain areas. There are a lot of BC Govt rec sites as well. And you can generally dispersed camp on crown land. But be aware there is active logging activity in many areas.

A good source to find camping sites is BC Rec Sites and Trails website. Look at their interactive map. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/s...rch-site-trail Some of the campsites are free and user maintained. Others are campgrounds with fees and camp hosts.

[smmokan]

Alright... talking with a couple friends it looks like we may actually end up going to ride on the Sunshine Coast for 2-3 days. Assuming there are enough trails and options for a couple of full days at least?It looks like Sechelt is the best place to stay WRT to restaurants, amenities?

[toast2266]

Alright... talking with a couple friends it looks like we may actually end up going to ride on the Sunshine Coast for 2-3 days. Assuming there are enough trails and options for a couple of full days at least?It looks like Sechelt is the best place to stay WRT to restaurants, amenities?

It's been a while since I was there, but we struggled a bit to find good stuff on the sunshine coast. Coast Gravity was fun for a day, but most of the other stuff we rode wasn't as good as stuff on the mainland. Lots of pretty mellow, relatively short, not particularly interesting trails, albeit in some really nice forest.

I got the sense that there was other, better stuff in the vicinity. We did a bit of poking around and found some very large jumps, but not much in the way of loamy rooty awesomeness. Also seemed like the whole area was more interesting 15-20 years ago, based on the large number of defunct wood features.

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[smmokan]

Well shit.

[evdog]

I've seen pics/vid of some pretty rad looking trails over there but have no idea what/where they were. Finding a guide would be the way to go. Or just ask Lee. Maybe try to track down the BC bike race routes from when they visited Sunshine Coast.

[bennymac]

This will make way more sense if looking at a map:

think of the Sunshine Coast as two sections - the Sechelt section to the south and the Powell River section to the north (these two are separated by a 35 minute ferry ride)

When thinking about the southern section (which is what most people think of when they say Sunshine Coast) Sechelt is in the middle from a south to north perspective (which is the direction the main highway travels) and the town of Gibsons is at the south end (where you get off the ferry from Vancouver).

Midway between Gibsons and Sechelt is an area called Robert’s Creek which is a common area from which to access bike trails (also has a good coffee shop, restaurant, store for snacks, place to swim in the ocean after your ride etc)

As you are driving north from Gibsons to Sechelt the ocean is to your left and a mellow mountainside of forest is to your right. This whole section of the Sunshine Coast has a network of trails ranging from mild easy XC to some steep rooty fun stuff - but mostly dominated by blue trail descents.

Lee or another “local” would be able to point you to any fun stuff there - the BC bike race racers have to traverse from Sechelt to Gibsons on that race day so while they do hit some fun trails they are kinda restricted by that need to be moving all day towards the ferry dock.

Coast Gravity park is just outside of Sechelt in this same section of the Sunshine Coast.

The BCBR route that lies to the north of Sechelt (which starts at where the ferry lands from Powell River section and then ends in Sechelt) was not a fun route to bike at all until the very last area of descents down off the hills into Sechelt. I’ve also poked around on bike in this zone when not doing BCBR and didn’t find much but maybe there are good trails there - it was a decade ago when I was exploring this section.

Powell River has a big network of mostly old school tight twisty XC - and the BCBR route uses these on their race days there. There are a few fun trails scattered around this zone.

But! There is a newish zone of trails in Powell River that are full on enduro fun - and this network is growing. It’s called Mt Mahoney and it’s a 5 min drive outside the town. If you go to the Powell River area this is where you want to ride.

But to be honest I’d rate the idea of basing out of Cumberland and adding in Nanaimo, Hornby, and/or Campbell River way higher on the density of quality trails - or North Van/Squamish/Whistler/Pemberton which is unmatched in its quality.

[smmokan]

Thanks Bennymac - might try to see if it makes sense to head out to the Island for the 3-4 day stretch, but maybe we'll stick to North Vancouver instead... too many damn choices.We'll be in Squamish for 4-5 days at the start and then Pemby for 3-4 days at the tail end, so those are covered already.

[bennymac]

Sunshine Coast imho doesn’t come remotely close to what you’ll ride in Squamish and Pemberton. I’d definitely vote for a day of riding in Whistler - and that doesn’t have to be in the park - plenty of amazing trails everywhere there (you likely already know that)

If you do decide to go to Sunshine Coast or the island I’d seriously consider ferry reservations - especially if catching a Friday through Sunday ferry - it can be madness at the terminals during the summer and having had to do a 2 sailing wait (meaning hanging out for 4 hours while waiting to board a 2 hour long ferry) is not a fun way to spend a sunny day.

Happy to provide more info (trails/restaurants etc) if you want when you’ve narrowed down your plans. I probably have 50ish days of riding under my belt in Cumberland and probably 25ish in Sechelt and 25ish in Powell River.

[evdog]

If I was riding Squamish to start the trip and then Pemberton to end it, Id have a hard time driving down to North Van to ride in between unless the Whistler valley trails were still too snowed in. Not that its far or the trails are bad, Whistler is just more destination worthy and trails will probably be less crowded than the shore during your timeline. Maybe talk to local shop or locals to get an update on snow in a couple weeks and decide then.


Id probably skip the Island too unless you take the 4 days mainly to make the ferry ride more worthwhile. Like Benny said definitely get reservations if you go across. Even during non peak times they can book up. Weekdays are easier.

[toast2266]

Yeah, I could easily spend a few days riding Whistler valley trails. Squamish -> Pemberton corridor has gotta have the highest density of quality bike trails in the world. Weeks worth of riding there.

That said, I've never been out to the island and I've always been curious. Looks like some really cool stuff out there. It's always hard to cram that into my trips, so if you've got the time, I'd vote for the island.

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[smmokan]

I've ridden a bunch in the Whistler valley as well as Squamish and Pemberton, and I'll be back up there in early June to run my business trips (where we ride most all of the legit blacks and double blacks)... which is why I want to explore some new stuff. Edit to add: looks like we might head out to Vancouver Island after all. Arrive in the morning of the first day, ride something around Nanaimo that afternoon. Then spend a couple of days riding around Cumberland.

Not sure if anyone's out on the island, but if you are and want to show us around for a day (Nanaimo or Cumberland), dinner and beers are on us. Dates will be April 28 - May 1.

[XXX-er]

I have never ridden a mtn bike on the island but getting over there AND back IS going to eat up time and MONEY note that BC is a very large place even the island is pretty big

[toast2266]

If you've got a couple days and you're just looking for something different, you could go a little east and check out stuff in the Chilliwack area.

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