Soak in the Sunshine Coast Along BC’s Salish Sea Route – Saltery Bay to Lund

Indigenous cultures, artistic communities, sea-inspired activities, spectacular coastlines and old growth forests make up British Columbia’s Salish Sea Coastal Route. This blog covers the Sunshine Coast part of the drive, from Saltery Bay north to Lund. Click here for the Sunshine Coast blog from Langdale to Egmont which also includes ‘Getting There’ from the BC Mainland.

Saltery Bay

After a 50-minute ferry ride across Jervis Inlet from Earl’s Cove you arrive at Saltery Bay on the Malaspina Peninsula. It was named in the early 1900s when it was the base for a salmon saltery and fish packing plant. Nearby are Mermaid’s Cove and Saltery Bay Provincial Picnic Park, a popular stop for, yes, a picnic. Mountain bikers can explore the 48-km Elephant Bay Loop. Between Saltery Bay and Powell River lies Lang Creek Estuary, a superb location for salmon fishing and beach casting when the fish run in autumn. There are several hiking trails and forest recreation sites along the way too. Palm Beach Regional Park off Hwy 101 before Brew Bay is open year-round and bids adieu to summer with the Sunshine Music Festival on Labour Day Weekend.

Powell River/Texada Island

Powell River is the ancestral home of the Sliammon First Nation. The city of Powell River lies along the shores of the Georgia Strait at the heart of the Malaspina Peninsula and faces west to Vancouver Island. Inlets and Powell Lake separate this area from the rest of the BC mainland, making it a magical place to visit.

It’s an area steeped in Indigenous culture, logging and BC heritage (check out the educational forestry museum). Late winter sees the Powell River Film Festival in the classic Patricia Theatre, Canada’s oldest continuously running cinema. The townsite has over 400 buildings dating to the original 1910 town plan and, in 1995, was designated as a National Historic District of Canada. Stroll around for yourself or book a heritage walking tour or take in an Indigenous experience, such as the Tla’amin Nation Cultural Tours where you can meet skilled craftspeople and learn about traditional practices. Music gatherings include the Townsite Jazz Festival in April and the PRISMA Festival & Academy Festival in mid-June, which unites renowned guest artists with top international music students for two weeks; spectators are invited to watch the symphonies and orchestras that take shape here. Mid-July means outdoor entertainment with a unique logger sports event.

Local produce can be purchased at the Townsite Public Market and Coast Berry Company, a blueberry, strawberry and honey farm and café, and the Powell River Blackberry Festival and street party is in August. For an educational outing visit the Tla’amin Salmon Hatchery.

From kayak and canoe rentals and dive trips to day tours and eco resort indulgences, there are numerous tour opportunities and 32 lakes in the Powell River area. Golfers and cyclists should head southeast to Myrtle Point Golf Club and explore the roads through Paradise Valley agricultural area.

Beachgoers can check out Willingdon Beach Municipal Campsite on the northern edge of town (open year-round), Mowat Bay Park at the bottom end of Powell Lake, or, northeast of town, Haywire Bay Regional Park, operated by the Regional District. Travellers to Vancouver Island can take a ferry from Powell River to Courtenay.

Southwest across the water from Powell River is Texada Island, the largest of the Gulf Islands, with Courtenay, Vancouver Island beyond that. Each July the sandy beaches of Gillies Bay on Texada are home to the community event of Sandcastle Weekend. Other entertaining gatherings are the Texada Island Fly-In (air and car/bike show), the Texada Island Blues & Roots Festival, the Sunshine Music Festival and the Run the Rock 8 km and half-marathon/marathon. Said to be the toughest marathon in Canada it attracts runners from around the world. For a calmer outing visit Texada’s beaches to experience their vast intertidal zones or chill out and watch some skimboarding.

For more on Powell River read the blog Powell River, Insulated By Nature.

Lund

At the most northern end of Highway 101 is Lund, a quaint village known for craft harbour, fishing (Lund Seafood Festival in May), sea touring and being the gateway to Desolation Sound, the deep-water area at the northern end of the Salish Sea. Lund sits on Tla’amin land in the qathet Regional District and is home to the Coast Salish people. Its first European settler was Swede Charlie Thulin who, in 1889, named the harbour after a city in his home country.

Visit art studios such as Tug-Gumh Gallery or indulge yourself at Nancy’s Bakery or the Lund Resort at Klah Ah Men, an award-winner in Indigenous tourism.

East of Lund is Okeover Arm Provincial Park and Okeover Inlet, a superb spot for harvesting oysters and clams (tidal water licence required). Diver’s Rock Regional Park and Copeland Islands Marine Provincial Park are just north of Lund. The latter is made up of a small chain of island, islets and rocks in Thulin Passage and is a prime area for wildlife viewing and wilderness camping; there are also some anchorages for small vessels. For an unforgettable experience book a water taxi or snorkel/dive trip to Savary Island, southeast of Lund—it has some of the warmest waters north of the Baja and sandy shores to relax on. Lund Water Taxi offers services to Savary and Cortes Islands, Sarah Point (start of Sunshine Coast Trail) and Desolation Sound. They also have bicycle and kayak transfer services.

Water enthusiasts and hikers are keen on Inland Lake Provincial Park and the Sunshine Coast Trail from Powell River to Sarah Point, approximately 47 km north of Lund. There is 13 km of wheelchair accessible trail around Inland Lake.

The Sunshine Coast region is home to the traditional and ancestral territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, shíshálh, Tla’amin, Klahoose and Homalco Nations. Visitors are encouraged to learn about how they can engage in cultural exploration.

Read our suggested drive along the Salish Sea Coastal Route or learn about winter activities on the Sunshine Coast.

Check out the first part of this tour up the Sunshine Coast by reading the blog Soak in the Sunshine Coast Along BC’s Salish Sea Route – Langdale to Egmont

For places to camp in British Columbia go to the Camping Map.

Share your BC travel and camping photos using hashtags #campinbc #explorebc.

A 10-day Tour in a C-Class Motorhome Exploring British Columbia’s Coastal Mountains

I’ve always wanted to go exploring in a Motorhome from Vancouver to the Cariboo and to see some of the Coastal Mountains en route. So, we took a circle route that started out east on Hwy 1 and ended up back on Hwy 99 to Vancouver. In between we followed scenic Hwys 3, 5, the Fishing Hwy 24 and 97. This is part 1 of 2 that took us on our journey.

This trip was booked in 2019, postponed, and rescheduled 4 times due to the Covid pandemic, so to finally make the trip a reality was more than joyous. The other thing that I was extremely excited about, was knowing that I was taking this trip with my adult son, a videographer, which meant great photos to record great memories.

The first morning we made our way out to Delta, BC in the rain. It was our first stop of the trip – to pick up our Motorhome rental unit from Fraser Way RV Rentals on Cliveden Avenue.

We were greeted by the most knowledgeable young man, Lucas. Lucas gave us the rundown of the rental process, which is not that daunting after all. Then he took us outside to meet the 22’ foot home on wheels. For such a compact unit, it packs nicely. The outside of the unit had eight lockable doors to the storage areas, and we were able to store two bundles of firewood, table, chairs, an extra propane tank, propane firepit, camera gear all in one cubby. Another storage area was great for groceries until we arrived at the first destination and could move things around.

Our next stop was at Save-On-Foods to pick up the food perishables that we didn’t pack ahead of time.

It was a wet ride to Camperland RV Resort at Bridal Falls on Hwy 1 where we had pre-booked our first night. We backed the unit into the treed site, hooked up to the power, water and sewer and hunkered down in the unit for the night listening to the rain pelt down. Just when we thought it was over – nope here comes another wave of rain harder than the last.

Morning came, and we had a slight reprieve from the rain, so we put out the awning to at least get one photo of our stay. Packed up and headed east.

Day 2 started with a 50 km drive to The Hope Slide on Hwy 3 which was noted as the second largest recorded landslide in Canada and happened in 1965, and even after all the years that have passed, you can still see the magnitude of the slide. Well worth a stop to investigate.

Another 50 km drive took us to Manning Park, where we joyfully watched the ground squirrels bobbing in and out of the numerous holes in the field in front of the resort. Managed to get this little one who was quite interested in the camera.

From Manning Park, you take the turn off right across the highway from the resort and drive up the twisty road to Cascade Lookout. The area was a buzz. Whiskey Jacks above and the cutest little chipmunks scurrying at our feet. The views are just breathtaking – well worth the drive.

Driving west back from Manning Park we took the turn-off to Hwy 5. Our next destination for the night was Moonshadows RV Park and Campground in Merritt (160 km from Manning Park). Stopped in the office, had a chat with Carol. She told us all about the Coldwater River that the park sits beside and that Moonshadows RV Park is one of the parks that country music fans flock to in the summer for what was once called The Merritt Mountain Music Festival, now known as Rockin River Country Music Fest. You can hear music from Legends like Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina. Carol told us thousands of camping chairs take up residence in the river for the entire weekend – I guess this is what makes Country Music so “cool” in Merritt! 

If you want to visit during that time, I suggest calling Carol now to see what’s available as it fills up fast – so fast that they have to open an adjacent field just for the tenters. We were able to go out for a short walk before the mosquitoes came out for their nightly visit. The next morning, we had our breakfast at the campsite picnic table in the sun before heading out. Please note that our trip was five months before the devastating floods that swept through Merritt.  

Day 3 and 4: We drove north on Hwy 5 another 90 km to Kamloops. Stopped in town long enough to get a few supplies and see some deer making their way through downtown. We took the Paul Lake exit off Hwy 5 to head to Pinantan Lake Resort some 25 km off the main highway.

As you drive down the road into the resort you are greeted with an old world look of antiques and some rustic buildings. We set up on one of the lakeview sites that overlooked a huge field where children were playing soccer. There was a communal firepit, washroom and laundry facilities. Later that evening, as the night drew in, we played a game of night bocce with a glow-in-the-dark Playboule Bocce set. In the morning we ventured around the property, taking photos and flew the drone for an ariel view.

Want to read more? Watch for our 2nd blog that continues into the Cariboo, along Fishing Hwy 24, south on Hwy 97 to Cache Creek, Lillooet, then Hwy 99 to Whistler and home.

For camping in this area and throughout BC go to the Camping Map

Share your BC travel and camping pictures using hashtag #campinbc, #explorebc, #bcnice, #green

It’s always a great day to #campinbc

Published: May 26th, 2022