BC Cycle Tourism Society
Photo: Let's Go BikingQualicum River Trails

Qualicum River Trails

Ambitious A real undertaking. Demanding on a couple of fronts, like rough surfaces plus steady climbing, or a long stretch on busier roads.

Difficulty Our overall read of how demanding a route is. We score surface roughness, climbing, singletrack, and how far it runs from services. The route publisher's own rating, a lot of busy road riding, or sheer scale can push the tier up, never down.

Derived from OpenStreetMap. Good data, not perfect. Spot something wrong? Tell us.

How we describe routes →

The Qualicum River trails offer out-and-back rides of 6 to 32 km through quiet forest along salmon-bearing water, with side trips to Spider Lake's warm swimming and the double cascades at Little Qualicum Falls. Surfaces run from smooth to genuinely rough, so the longer options suit wider tires.

Where this ride goes#

Map key & layers
Food & DrinkAttractionsSuppliesCampingAccommodation

Riding near fast trafficFastest stretches

Dashed line = our rough sketch of where the ride goes. The rideable route lives at get the book from Let's Go Biking.

Fast-road stretches#

We believe these are the fast, unprotected roads on this route. We can tell you which roads and roughly how far, but not the order you will ride them. If you see an error, tell us and we'll fix it.

  • about 18 km of West Island Highway · near Qualicum Bay
  • short stretches on other roads · 3 km total
Stops worth stopping for14 along this route

Communities along this route#

Qualicum Bay (8)

Qualicum First Nation CampgroundInfo· Private Campground
Lighthouse MotelInfo· Hotel / Motel · $$ · Budget
Roam Beach ResortInfo· Hotel / Motel · $$$ · Mid-range
Sea Flame Beach ResortInfo· Hotel / Motel · $$ · Budget
Crown & Anchor RoadhouseInfo· Brewery / Pub · $$ · Casual
Qualicum Bay ResortInfo· Private Campground
Tam's TakeoutInfo· Restaurant · $ · Cheap eats

Bowser (5)

Bowser Library BranchInfo· Library · Free
Qualicum Breeze Beach ResortInfo· Hotel / Motel · $$$$ · Upscale
Tomm's Food VillageInfo· Grocery Store
Georgia Park StoreInfo· Convenience Store

Plus the fast-food chains — Nickolini's Pizza

Qualicum Beach (1)

Sandbar Cafe & Art GalleryInfo· Café / Coffee · $ · Cheap eats
Slice and dice these stops in the directory →
These stops come from our directory of welcoming places across BC. Spot something wrong, missing, or closed? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Getting here, bike and allQualicum Beach

Getting to this ride, bike and all#

Qualicum Beach is the handiest transit doorway for this ride. Buses and ferries will carry you and your bike there:

Or pick any two places on To & Fro →

🪶Traditional territories

This route travels through the traditional territories of the Homalco, Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, K’ómoks, Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ, We Wai Kai, and Wei Wai Kum.

Territory data from Native Land Digital, for educational purposes only.