Canoe trip Quadra Island, April 16 to 20, 2026
- Richard Parker
- Apr 21
- 4 min read
On Quadra Island you will find Main Lake Provincial Park which has 7 boat-access-only, backcountry campsites. Each of these could accomodate between 5 and 7 tents. On our 3 night adventure, we had the entire Provincial Park to ourselves. We didn't see another canoe until the last day as we were leaving! And the weather was amazing. Not too hot but not very cold and with mostly clear blue skies. We only had one evening when a few raindrops fell that cleared by morning!
The drive to the Quadra Island ferry at Campbell river took about 3 hours. The ferry took 15 minutes and we were on the water by 2:00pm on Thursday. At this point, we didn't realize we were alone and having never been there, it was very exciting to say the least. The wind picks up in the afternoon and we had about a 10 ~ 12 kn breeze to paddle into. The 7 campsites are accessed in 20 to 90 minutes when you launch at Mine Lake as we did. We chose campsite #4 which has a sand beach and great views of the lake and the small islands (some privately owned). Getting there took about 45 minutes. We landed and set up camp wondering if we would be joined by other campers later in the day. Nope!!!
Each of the campsites has a fire pit and an outhouse. Some of them are the green plastic throne which are open to the air but ours was an enclosed pit toilet which was clean and private. We brought wood with us (offcuts from the workshop) but we found lots of dead sticks and branches which we used to augment our fuel supplies. The fires we had were more than decorative and kept us warm in the evenings and again in the mornings. It was a bit chilly!
On the second day, we headed off to explore the lake and see the campsites 5, 6 and 7 which were beyond us. After this, we realized we were totally alone on the lake with not another soul around! There is a short 2km hike from the lake which traverses a ridge and delivers you to the ocean with a view of Maurelle Island (North of Cortez). It was a perfect day for a hike and my new knee cooperated in the mission to climb over the mountain to see what we could see (the other side of the mountain of course!).
Our time back at camp was filled with cooking, cleaning and crib! Armed with new licenses and a backpack full of fishing gear, we tried our best to coax a stocked trout to join our menu but no luck! Next time (and there most certainly will be!).
Our last full day on the lake, we explored two possible creek access points to other small lakes. Our first effort involved narrow channels and careful navigation but we were stopped by a log jam before accessing the destination and had to back out. Our second effort was even worse and we couldn't get very far into the alleged creek before encountering a road block. The lake is beautiful to paddle and there are lots of things to see. We watched a family of river otters and lots of ducks and loons!
On our last day, we packed up camp and headed back to the launch point. After loading Holly's Pathfinder, we headed to Hariot Bay where we had booked a room for the night at the Inn! A hot shower (plumbing issues aside) was a welcome event and we had a great time in the pub where we had the fortune of an evening of open mic entertainment! It was local, real and wonderful! A beer and pub food were the equivalant of the finest French wine and cusine at that point! Before the day was over, we had hiked Rebecca Spit and witnessed the celebrations that accompanied the 130th year of the Hariot Bay Inn! A walk on the docks at the attached marina allowed us to meet JoJo, a parot that had a great deal to say. Kissing sounds and a sensational cat whistle made Holly feel extra special!
The next morning, we checked out by 9:00 am and headed off for a hike. I have to say that of all the Islands we have visited so far, Quadra has the most amazing hikes of all. We chose an 11km hike that would take us to the lookout over Ripple Rock. We have walked the Ripple Rock trail on the other side of Seymour Narrows which is North of Campbell River and now we have seen it from both sides. We encourage you to Google Ripple Rock and learn about this amazing story from 1958. It's a blast!
We were home for dinner on Monday and Tuesday was spent "un-packing"!!! It was a wonderful trip and we plan to return to Quadra. The trail system is amazing and the scenery is fantastic. Thanks for coming along!!!
As always...
Richard is at rparker228@yahoo.com and,
Holly is at hjessentials@hotmail.com
