Hiking the Sunshine Coast

Our beautiful forests and hills provide ample opportunities for hikers, from easy paths to intense trails. Design your own trek from easy to extreme, half an hour to several days.  For detailed trail information contact the Visitor Info Centres Please note: For reasons of safety, it is strongly suggested that before you embark on any hike in the back country you purchase a Sunshine Coast hiking guide from a local bookstore. Do you have an iPhone?  Check out Trailpeak.com's GPS function for trails:  Trailpeak.com

Cliff Gilker Park, Roberts Creek

Lower Sunshine Coast Hikes

Level of difficulty rated 1 to 5 (1 is the easiest)

Langdale Creek Trail & Falls
Length 2.5 km (1.5 mi) one way. Access Stewart Rd. from either North Rd. or the Gibsons Bypass, follow to dead end. Turn right at T-junction, park, bear left 100 m under hydro lines. 3

The Mount Elphinstone Heritage Trails
The K2 Trail (moderate) ascends the side of Mount Elphinstone (4,137 feet/1261 m)from the end of Wharf Road. To find the trailhead, follow the Port Mellon Hwy a short distance north of the ferry terminal at Langdale to Wharf Road.   3

Waterfall Trail (easy)
A short lower-elevation hike that leads to a waterfall viewpoint on Langdale Creek. The trailhead for the Waterfall Trail begins at the north end of Stewart Road. Take either North Road or the Gibsons Bypass to reach Stewart Road.  1

Tramway Trail (moderate)  
Take North Road from either Gibsons or Langdale to Cemetery Road, then follow Cemetery to Keith Road. Watch for a road opposite the Boothill Ranch, which will deposit you in front of a yellow gate. Hike a short distance from here to the trailhead, which is marked with a red aluminum tag.  3

Soames Hill Park (the Knob)
A 40-minute steep climb with outstanding views of Gibsons, Howe Sound and nearby islands. To reach the trailhead, take North or Reed Roads to Chamberlin Road, then east on Bridgeman Road to its end. 3

Cliff Gilker Park
Length 3 km (1.8 mi). Access Hwy. 101 in Roberts Creek adjacent to the golf course. Trails lead through second-growth Douglas fir forest, past waterfalls and across rustic bridges over creeks to picnic facilities and a children's playground. 2
Check out the blog about Cliff Gilker Park.

Lower Chapman Creek Trail  Length 2.8 km (1.75 mi). Access Hwy. 101 at Brookman Park near Davis Bay. A one-way hour's hike that starts along the creek. 3

Porpoise Bay Provincial Park, Sechelt Inlet
Length 2 km (1.2 mi) one way. Access Hwy. 101, follow Wharf Ave. to East Porpoise Bay Rd., follow to park entrance. 1

Sargent Bay Provincial Park Trail, Halfmoon Bay
Length: 2 km.   Allow 1 hr.   1

Smuggler's Cove Hike
Check out the blog about this great little hike.

Halfmoon Fir Trail
Length:  1 km.    3

Homesite Caves Trail
Length:  2 km.  Allow 1 hr.    3

Pender Hill Trail (moderate)
Length 3 km return,  30-minute to the top. From Hwy. 101 turn left at Garden Bay Road and travel to Irvines Landing Road, then along to Lee Road. Watch for a sign on the right side of Lee Road - and a turquoise-coloured telephone pole - that announces the trailhead.  Steep climb with great view.   3

Mount Daniel in Garden Bay
Length 2.5 km (1.6 mi) one way. From Hwy. 101 turn at Garden Bay Rd., left at the first dirt road after Oyster Bay Rd. Steep climb with wonderful view. 4

The Suncoaster Trail between Earls Cove and Halfmoon Bay
37 km of nature starting at Earls Cove and making your way down to Homesite Creek in Halfmoon Bay.  In the future, the Suncoaster will extend from Halfmoon Bay and eventually right down to Langdale linking the entire coast.  There are easy exit points along the way so with a little planning you can hike during the day and camp, enjoy a B&B or even a resort in the evenings.  The trail itself is 6'-7' feet wide on good stable soils with gentle inclines offering a nice forestry environment and peek-a-boo views into wetlands, mountain view, water views, creek views.  One of the most scenic spots is beside a waterfall where a 68-foot (21-m) bridge spans Sakinaw Creek.  4

Skookumchuck Narrows Park, near Egmont
An easy, forest trail leads to one of the world's fastest flowing tidal currents.

Upper Sunshine Coast Hikes

The Sunshine Coast Trail is an ambitious program to create a world-class hiking trail from the ferry terminal at Saltery Bay to Okeover Inlet and the northern end of Malaspina Peninsula at Desolation Sound. The Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society began building the 112 miles (180 km) long trail in 1992 and completed it a decade later. Numerous campsites, picnic tables, benches and pit toilets have been constructed in the meantime, and now Powell River PAWS has begun building shelters along the way.

Mount Troubridge Trail - High point on Sunshine Coast Trail
Statistics
Total Distance: 8.0 km (return)
Estimated Time: 5 hours
Average Grade: 16.3%
Structure: Linear
Return Elevation Gain:  650 m
Start Elevation: 650 m
Max Elevation: 1300 m
 
Directions
From the Saltery Bay ferry terminal, follow the road around the harbour and start up the hill. 4WD required. There will be a marker for Rainy Day Lake. Continue up. Keep right at junction (your road will curve to the right going uphill). After approximately 4 km pass a trail to Rainy Day Lake to your right. Just past the 7 km marker, in the clearcut, take the left branch uphill. Park at the next fork and start to hike on the right hand road. Follow this a short way up to your right and the trail proper will begin.

Details
The trail starts up through a recent clearcut which is now full of blueberry bushes. After 15 - 20 minutes of hiking it enters the forest, and from here on in you are hiking in old growth for most of the way. Shortly after entering the forest the trail drops down steeply and then up equally steeply - you may think you are on the wrong trail - you are not. It continues up through beautiful forest and eventually brings you up to the heathery top of Mount Troubridge with an old communications shack marking the high point. The best views are actually from a bluff just below the high point. You look out over Nelson and Hardy Islands. The Sunshine Coast Trail continues on towards Elephant Lakes from here, but this is the best turnaround point if you are doing this as a day hike.
Information from http://www.clubtread.com/Routes/Route.aspx?Route=999

Powell River Forest Canoe Route- Click here for more details  
Length:  80 km.    Allow 4 days    3

Holly Branch Trail
Length:  5 km.   Allow 3 hrs.     3

Lang Creek Trail (easy; 3 miles/5 km return)
Turn north off Hwy 101 on the Duck Lake Forest Road, 23 km (14 miles) north of Saltery Bay. The Lang Creek trailhead begins on the right side of the road in about 11 km (7 miles).  2

Sweetwater Trail
Length 7 km return (4.3 miles), moderate.  Turn north off Hwy 101 on the Duck Lake Forest Road, 23 km (14 miles) north of Saltery Bay, turn right over the bridge, and continue on for another 3.2 km (2 miles), then turn left and drive a short distance to the traihead.  3

Confederation Lake
Length 12 km (7.4-mile) round-trip. Leads around Mount Mahoney to Confederation Lake and will take the better part of a day to complete. To reach the trailhead, follow directions to Inland Lake. Instead of turning in at Inland Lake, continue on, take the next road on the right, and drive another mile. Leave your vehicle at the pullout here and walk up a road to the next fork. Take the right-hand route up a washed-out road, which soon narrows to a trail that is indicated by strategically placed metal markers. Make the rustic cabin on Confederation Lake your destination, although a rough trail does lead farther on from there to Powell Lake. With the exception of one steep section where a ramp and staircase assist hikers, most of the trail is easily negotiated.  3

Haywire Bay
Length 4 (2.5-mile), moderately difficult. Connects the regional park on Powell Lake with the west side of Inland Lake.   4

Marathon-Appleton Trail
Length 12 km (7.5 miles), moderate. Includea viewpoints at the Gibraltar and Gentle David lookouts, located off the Marathon Trail, as well as picnic sites at Rieveley's Pond and Appleton Creek. To find the trailhead, head north of Powell River through Sliammon to Southview Road, which begins on the east side of Hwy 101. Travel almost 5 km (3 miles) on Southview to the well-marked trailhead. An alternative approach to the Forest Service recreation site is at Appleton Creek is via Wilde Road, which begins on the east side of Hwy 101 in Sliammon. Wilde connects with the Theodosia Forest Road, which climbs for more than 12 km (7 miles). The well-marked Appleton Creek Trail begins about halfway up the forest road on the left.

Inland Lake Trail
Length 13 km (8-mile) loop around the lake. 2

Powell River Greenways Trail (part of the Sunshine Coast Trail)
Length 3 km (2-mile), easy. Travel part way down the Dinner Rock Road (marked by a Forest Service sign) on the west side of Hwy 101. The road is gated from mid-October to mid-April. Park and walk in if you arrive during these times.