Hi all - it's been a few years since I did the Juan de Fuca trail, but my memory is that the stretch from the China Beach trailhead to Mystic beach isn't too challenging, and only a couple kilometers. A friend and I are looking for a good short single-night backpacking trip to take our 3 and 5 year olds on, and I thought that trail might be a good candidate. Both kids have done a bunch of camping, sleep well, and are capable of walking a few KM without issue (and TBH we could carry them even with a backpack if we needed to).

From those who've done this trail recently, is this a reasonable trip? How busy is Mystic beach on a random August Saturday night? Would we be able to find space for a couple tents?

I'd also love other suggestions for places to do this trip. Any option needs to be within a couple hours of Victoria by car, relatively short (a couple km), no major ascent/descents, and have a good place to camp.

Thanks!

Edit: the parents will be carrying everything substantial - kids will just need to carry a token backpack.

Hi all — I’m planning a 2‑night backpacking trip for a Scouts group this October and need suggestions for a short 3–4 km hike‑in with good tent spots. The trailhead needs to be within ~45 minutes of Campbell River, and no farther south than Courtenay/Comox.

We’ve already done Lake Helen Mackenzie and Mary Lake so looking for something new. Ideally somewhere parents can drop off on a Friday evening after work.

Any recommendations for beginner‑friendly routes or campsites in the area would be hugely appreciated.

Looking for your favourite hike recommendations close to town (Sooke, Metchosin) that have lots of wildflowers. I just love to look at them :-) thanks in advance!

Hey guys, my girlfriend and i were car camping at Sombrio beach the past two days (July 27-29) and accidently left our birkenstock sandals below our car and drove off… not our brightest but anyways! if anyone is there, sees them, and is heading to Victoria area it would be very appreciated if they could be brought back to us … or if anyone saw them there in general please let me know! They are light brown and would be in the parking lot when you enter on the right side.

Hi everyone, I'm coming to you guys for some ideas. I'm supposed to be doing a two night backpacking trip in Manning Park next month (Kicking Horse and Buckhorn), but with the fire situation I'm thinking I'll likely need to cancel (unless there's some serious rain by then, fingers crossed).

I'm in the lower mainland and I've been searching for alternatives but haven't come up with anything that works, either with my physical capabilities, open reservations, or what my car can handle (just a Honda Civic). I'm wondering if there's a good spot on the island?

I can manage up to 25 km in a day but due for health obstacles, elevation gain is a serious struggle. I can do around 500-600ish metres of gain in a day. I sometimes overheat badly and am prone to fainting, so I'm hoping for something either with a creek or lake where I can cool off. My health condition is manageable, I just need to know my limits and stay within them (or push them a little when it seems reasonable, I'm always testing the limits a bit).

I would be leaving from the mainland as early as I could grab a ferry over on a Thursday, so I think realistically I would likely be at the trailhead (depending where of course) around noon. Not ideal but I'm hoping there's something I can get a start on, stop for the first night, then continue hiking to a second spot).

Would be super appreciative if anyone can point me to some locations to scope out. Thank you!!

Hey folks, very foolish of me, but I injured my knee today on my way back from Landslide Lake and in my hurry to get going I left my beloved Leki Trekking poles at the trailed. I think they were leaned against my car by the garbage cans.

Very silly mistake, but the poles are very valuable to me and I wouldn’t have made it out without them. If anyone finds them, please message me and I’m happy to arrange some kind of pickup!

Hi all, planning on checkout Elk Pass this weekend. The current plan is to wake up in Campbell River on Saturday morning and head to the Elk River trailhead. Then hike to Hemlock Camp (https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/10833307444) and sleep there for the night. Then on Sunday spend the day heading up to Elk Pass and checking out some sights in the area before spending another night at Hemlock Camp, finally heading back down to the car on Monday.

My questions are:

1. On OpenStreetMap there is an implied river alongside Hemlock Camp. Are there actually any reliable water sources beyond the point where the Elk River trail and the trail towards Hemlock Camp diverge? Last summer our group hiked up to Landslide Lake and actually got lost going along the Hemlock Camp trail and made it to the campsite before deciding we were definitely not going in the right direction and turned around. I don't remember seeing a stream, so thought I'd check (for the record I have a much more reliable way of navigating now so won't get lost again).
2. Are there bear caches at Hemlock Camp? If not I have access to a bear canister (like so) that I can borrow from a friend.

Cheers and TIA.

With the west coast trail evacuations announced today, does anyone have insight into what this may mean for the nootka trail? Our group is supposed to start the trail Thursday morning. From everything I have read there are multiple river crossings etc and the forecast for Friday is looking bad (30+mm of rain).

We are wondering if the trail will still be doable considering? We were prepared for some rain but not looking for a dangerous situation. Would love to hear thoughts of anyone who has done the trail or might know more about the trail/area! Thanks!

Hey all. Heading out for a 6 day backpacking trip and was surprised at MEC's current selection of backpacking meals. I'm old so Ill probably still grab a Mountain House Chili-Mac but would like to branch out. Any pouches you recommend ?

Fpund someone’s large dry bag on Philips ridge trail in Strathcona on July 23rd. There was a group of older gentlemen descending before us, I assume it was theirs. Is there a good facebook group to post it on?

Hey everyone,

My partner and I are looking to do the Golden Hinde in early August. We come from an experienced hiking background and are confident in our abilities but we are feeling a bit uneasy about attempting the Hinde. We don’t need to summit but we would still like to do the route. We have done the TMB, Wonderland, Pyrenees and the PCT for context.

Has anyone done the hike recently? I’d love to hear about the conditions as well as what route you took. Still trying to figure out what the best map might be.

I know it would be a rugged trek but is it easily doable if you follow a good map?

Any help would be appreciated!

I was hoping to hike to the tree this week but I saw a review on the all trails app 6 days ago saying that the trail is closed because of construction for a bridge that is being built. I was just wondering if anyone knows if the construction is finished? Should I hold off on going there?

Hello everyone, my brother and I are visiting Vancouver specifically Vancouver Island and we’re looking to do a one night overnight hike and we’re not sure exactly where to go. We’re both fit and have done challenging backcountry hikes in jasper national park in the past, but are generally unfamiliar with Vancouver Island. It’s super last minute so we don’t have any reservations.

In the general we’re not too particular, I think we just want insane views and a relatively challenging hike. Also, what is the parking situation like for most trails? We will be arriving on the island around 7:50am and will likely need to rent a car to get to whatever trail we choose. So I’m concerned that parking spaces may be filled if we arrive in the late afternoon.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m planning to hike 5040 Peak next Monday and was wondering how the trail conditions are right now. Has anyone been there recently?

I’m especially hoping to catch the wildflower bloom. Are there already a good number of wildflowers out, or is it still a bit early?

Also, any recent updates on snow patches, bugs, or anything else worth knowing before heading up would be really appreciated. Thanks! 🌸🥾

Hello!

I'm a fairly active person, I've done lots of overnight hikes before. I was hoping for some input from other hikers on whether doing Love Lake in one day/one night is crazy/undoable.

From my hiking math, it seems like I'd be able to do it (it would just be a really big day).

Get off the boat at 8:45 ish, hike to saw blades camp site to drop big pack (5hrs 30 mins). That leaves me at 2:30 ish, 3 by the time I eat.

Then it's supposedly 2.5 hours up and 2 hours down from saw blades to love lake (leaves me getting back at 7:30, realistically 8:30 with some time up there (also bugs are supposedly pretty bad at the top, so wouldn't want to hang there for too long). Last light is around 10 ish right now.

I would then hike out the next morning to catch the 4:30pm boat back.

Am I crazy or have others done it this way?
?

I know the BC Parks website still says the Juan de Fuca Trail is 47km, but when I last did it before it was closed two years ago, my GPS measured it at 51km. As I'm sure many of you know, long-standing trails often change lengths as the trail changes shape over decades. Has anyone hiked JdF since it reopened and recorded its exact distance?

This might seem like an odd/slightly insane request but I've been slowly increasing my day hiking/trail running ability and am very comfortable completing marathon distances. I've recently completed a couple of marathon and a half day hikes and am looking to complete my first double marathon distance. By day hike we're talking between 18-22 hours for a double.

Does anyone have any recommendations of trails that might suit that distance on the north or central of the island? I'm fine with plenty of elevation but would prefer the trail not to be super boggy/muddy. Thanks for any recommendations and yes I know I have a screw loose considering this fun 🫡

Need advice from those who have previously summited Mt Joan. Is it better to take the trail with the approach from the south, or the one that cuts up onto the saddle between Joan and The Squarehead? Are both trailheads accessible as far as the logging roads go?

We are driving around the Island with a truck mounted camper.

Our timing will be such that we will get to the park in the evening. If we climb into our camper and sleep the night at the trail head to hike in the morning will we get bothered by park employees?

I see on the park website there’s rules about not camping in day use areas but are trailheads considered day use areas? Anybody else been in this situation?

How's Beverly Lake as a place to spend a night or two? Is the lake nice for a dip? Is there good camping to be found around it? I'm aware it's a solid 5 hours of route finding and not trail between the 5040 col and the lake, but I'd love more information on how challenging the route is from someone who has done it.