Have you hiked any of the Sunshine Coast Trail yet? Located in the Powell River area, its Canada's longest hut-to-hut hiking trail, stretching over 180km of beautiful landscapes, from coastal shorelines, along creeks and lakes, through old growth forests to panoramic mountaintops. It provides hikers with the opportunity to experience Powell River’s breathtaking backcountry with its rich fauna and flora. Did we mention its free too? If you aren't ready to tackle the whole trail, there are many access points allowing hikers to complete one leg of the trail. This week, try the Appleton Canyon leg of the trail.
Appleton Canyon takes you along a series of waterfalls including the dramatic Sylph and Gorge Falls. Picnic under the canopy of towering Old Growth forests with fir’s stemming over 1.5 meters in thickness at the Appleton Canyon Recreation Site.
The trail is approximately 2.1 kilometres in length and takes about an hour to hike in to the Appleton Recreation site and another 30-45 minutes to hike to the new shelter at Rieveley’s Pond.
From the Recreation Site, you can extend your adventure by a trek to Rieveley’s Pond to check out the new shelter. All of the huts along the Sunshine Coast Trail are available for overnight camping on a first come, first snooze basis. Also, you can access the ‘swimming hole’ just up from the Rec Site on the trail branching to the right after the bridge. Nothing better on a hot summer’s day! The trail is lush, loamy and so green-- absolutely one of the best trails Powell River has to offer.
Lastly, don't miss out on getting your Sunshine Coast Trail passport stamp for visiting the Rieveley Pond Hut from Terracentric Coastal Adventures!
Directions to Trailhead
From town, take Marine Avenue (also Highway 101) north towards the Townsite. Follow Marine/101 until you get to a ‘T’ in the road. Take a right here (follow the signs pointing to Lund) which will take you over the famous Powell Lake, up the hairpin Wildwood Hill and through Sliammon.
Just after Sliammon, take a right on Wilde Road (across from Scuttle Bay – which is quite the site on low tides). Wilde Road will turn into Tomkinson Road. Follow this past Sliammon Lakes on your right (about 4km in), over two big cross ditches (careful, don’t bottom out), and finally across a bridge where Appleton Canyon flows. The road curves upwards and about 100 metres from the bridge you’ll find the entrance to an old mine area where you can park.
The trail can be accessed from the back of the parking lot or by walking back to the road & walking up the hill about 15m and a sign will indicate the start of the trail.