By the Sea, by the Sea, by the Beautiful Sea! (or a Lake):
A 17-day Motorcycle Adventure in
Vancouver Island, Mainland British Columbia & the Northern Cascades

About 2500 miles / 4000 kilometers
September 2023

For this year's fall motorcycle tour, we chose to stay close to home, probably because the Belize adventure in January required so much planning and time and effort to get there and we are facing the same thing for next January and Guatemala. Stefan (coyotetrips) suggested Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, and it was a great idea: it's beautiful with great camping, interesting roads, beautiful vistas and super friendly people - and it didn't take a week to get there.

A big problem in motorcycle trip planning now is that we are running out of new things to see in the Pacific Northwest - we have rather thoroughly explored this area over the years!

I've decided not to write a full travelogue about this mostly-Vancouver Island trip. It's not that it's not worthy of such, it's not that it wasn't yet another grand adventure. In fact, this trip redeemed Canada for me - we've done two trips to Canada and while I enjoyed them, on those trips, to get to the best parts, we rode through a lot of what I considered boring landscapes and on really boring roads. This trip didn't have any jaw-dropping moments, but overall, it was beautiful almost every day, and on the few days it wasn't beautiful, we experienced that Canada Nice that everyone talks about but that, up until now, we hadn't really experienced. But I'm tired, more tired than inspired, and so, no traditional travelogue.

Instead, I'm going to write highlights and information I think might help others who are considering visiting Vancouver Island and some parts of the British Columbia mainland, especially by motorcycle, and add some personal thoughts at the end. But if you want more information about our trip and where we stayed and what we thought about this or that, you can read the descriptions on my photos - there's lots more information and commentary there.

• The best advice we got for this trip was to camp in Recreation Sites. These are low cost or FREE rustic campgrounds, often in beautiful, remote sites, like on a lake, and at the end of or along a gravel road. Recreation sites are not always marked with signs on main roads or even on gravel roads - you need to have something printed out with the sites marked to find many of them, because the online interactive map is useless in much of Vancouver Island, especially in the North, as there isn't phone access. The sites are accessed via gravel roads, have only pit toilets (out houses, as they are called in both Canada and Kentucky), and do NOT have potable water. Every site should have a fire pit and a picnic table but these can get moved around by other visitors. Campers must carry out everything they pack in - there is no garbage service. More than one person recommended the Vancouver Island Backroad Mapbook, and we absolutely should have bought it - even a cheaper, used older version would have been SO helpful.
  

• I almost hate to share this secret... but the Chinook Campground at Bush Pioneer Park in Bay Center, Washington State is a great place to camp for a night if you are on your way up or down the Pacific Coast in the USA. And it is reservable! I will always make a reservation for our first night out on a trip if I can, and since that was going to be a Friday night before Labor Day, I knew it was absolutely essential to do so if we didn't want to end up on sleeping literally on the side of a gravel road like last year. You can reserve a site at this tiny and usually quiet campground by emailing the contact info on this page. Like any campground, how quiet it is depends on other campers. The closer to the ocean, the better the site, IMO. There's a nice little hike down to the shoreline, and comparing the shoreline in the evenings and in the mornings is a must: what a contrast! There is a KOA campground not too far away with a tiny grocery, and there is sometimes a restaurant within walking distance (it was still closed when we were there). The Pioneer Cemetery is an easy walk from the campground and worth a visit if you have some daylight after your camp setup. The site is managed by the Chinook Nation.
  

• The second night out on our way to up Canada we stayed at Dungeness Forks Campground in Olympic National Forest in Washington State and here's another secret I almost hate sharing: site 8 in this campground is often unused. It's behind site 9, you can't park next to it in a car, and few know it's there. The parking spot for it is across from the river, not next to the site itself, and if the weeds aren't mowed (and they weren't when we were there) and if the little sign for it has been vandalized or someone has parked in front of it (as was the case when we were there), you cannot see the marker for it nor the path to it. I saw it only because I was standing next to the pit toilet, sad that we were going to have camp rough and waiting for Stefan to come back from finding a rough camp site. When my eyes locked on to the almost hidden and completely empty picnic table, which I could see through site 9, I almost took off running. We parked our motorcycles right inside the campsite, which meant we'd left the official parking spot empty. Later, when I saw a VW van circling, looking for a spot, I ran over and told them they should use our parking spot to camp since we weren't, and they were SO THRILLED. To get to this campground, with its just 10 campsites, you go down a crazy steep one lane unpaved road and it's really demoralizing to make that journey and there's no where to camp. I was happy at how much better I was able to ride the road versus when I was there in 2017. The Dungeness Forks Campground closes for the season on the third Monday of September. Don't even think about taking a trailer there. One last note: while standing at the river next to the parking lot, we got to see a bald eagle. That will never NOT be a thrill for me.
  

• And this reminds me: campers, please help out other campers, especially in remote areas. Don't just smirk as you watch people circle a campground looking for a site, missing the open site you know is there. I will always flag someone down, especially as night is falling, to let someone know a site is open that they may not know is open (usualy because an expired reservation tag has been left on the post). Consider sharing your site in a full campground - someone did that for us once, and we've never forgotten that incredible kindness. And thank you to the campers at various sites who have said yes when we asked them to take our small bag of trash out. When we try to pack out our bag of trash, it sometimes comes off the bike and spills who knows where, and we hate that.

• The ferry ride from Port Angeles to Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada is pleasant enough, but be sure to take some ginger ale if you are, like me, prone to sea sickness, and get reservations, because it almost always sells out. Motorcyclists beware, however: they put us on last and provided NO help anchoring the bikes. They also separated Stefan and I, putting us on different sides of the boat, which meant that, when we left the boat, we went through customs at different times and in different lanes, and customs wasn't really happy about this - but the guy dealing with me got over it quickly when he asked suspiciously when finding out I wasn't alone, "Well, why aren't you together?" and I shot back, "You will have to ask the ferry staff that separated us when we boarded. I'm still very angry about it." Realizing I was she-who-should-not-be-upset, he immediately backed off and let me through.

• Getting out of the ferry port at Victoria, Vancouver Island is really difficult: you have to stop on a steep hill at a stop sign right out of the port, and you have to wait for both a break in traffic and a break in pedestrians, which can take a long, long time - it's packed with traffic and pedestrians. The authorities in Victoria should be out there when a ferry arrives, directing traffic.

• Victoria is a gorgeous city and I absolutely want to go back and explore it. It's one of the most beautiful arrivals in a city I have ever experienced. But be aware that, just like everywhere, it has a big problem with drug users. While waiting at stop lights and working out way through traffic and eventually out of town, we saw people preparing things to smoke meth and an entire building taken over by squatters, as well as numerous people looking to score. Don't leave your bike unattended under any circumstances in Victoria.

• The roads leading into and out of Victoria, as well as much of highway 19 north of the city, are four lane highways and boring and you will wonder why you came to Vancouver Island on a motorcycle vacation. Be patient - they eventually turn into two lane, much more interesting roads. I had no idea that part of the island was so developed and so crowded. I spent the first two hours riding thinking we'd made a huge mistake because of the huge, busy highway 14 leading West, surrounded by sprawl. Thankfully, the whole island isn't that way.
  

• Highway 19A, going along the East Coast, is worth the time to take, at least one way. You do get some nice ocean views and go through some quaint areas.  

• Main gravel roads on Vancouver Island are wide and are hard packed dirt and gravel and most people travel them by regular passenger car. They are easy to ride, but bumpy. They are maintained by lumber companies. They aren't as scenic as we were hoping for, but they are much more interesting ways of getting around than taking main roads, and there are lots of remote campgrounds off of them that are quite scenic and worth the trip.
  

• If there is a sign in front of a campground that says "full", and it's a huge campground with more than 50 sites, and it's late, and it's raining, and there's still someone at the gate, ask if, in fact, there are some abandoned sites. We did our first night and, surprise, got a great site despite the "campground full" sign. It might have helped that the staff person was also a motorcycle rider...
  

• Most Canadian provencial parks stop taking reservations after Labor Day and become First Come, First Serve - but NOT all of them! Some still take reservations well past Labor Day - and if they do, they will be full on the weekends, no matter the weather.

• Port Alberni is easy to skip - it looks a bit rough in parts - but you might want to have a closer look. The Harbour Quay on Argyle street is worth visiting for lunch and probably for supper too or just to see a nice water view, as is Argyle Street itself. I almost wish we'd stayed in the area, just to have a night walking up and down the street in the evening visiting bars and shops. If you are visiting the entire island, it's likely you are going through this city twice. Don't just fly through - stop and have a look at the Harbour Quay. 

• Yes, the fish and seafood offerings in Vancouver Island are amazing - take advantage of it every time you can in a restaurant. 
  

• The scenic viewpoints between Ucluelet and Tofino are must stops. If they are open (sometimes one or two won't be, for maintenance), you will want to stop and see the incredible views of the ocean and watch the surfers. There ARE parking fees - we didn't pay them, because we stopped for just a few minutes at each, since the weather wasn't super great. 
  

• We wish we had stayed in Ucluelet instead of Tofino. It's 25 miles from Tofino and for the brief time we were there, it looked much more like a city we would like. The itineraries on this web site show why. Had we done some research, we probably would have booked a room in Ucluelet instead of Tofino and enjoyed a couple of days there. 
  

• If you love Sun Valley, Idaho or Lake Tahoe, California or Jackson Hole, Wyoming, you will love Tofino. You absolutely must have a reservation to ensure you get to stay there, no matter your budget. The visitor center just outside of town is wonderful and helped us get a private room at the hostel in Tofino (see below). There is no place to walk along the water in Tofino, no place to sit and watch the water, to watch planes flying off and landing on the water, to watch the water taxis come and go, no old town to stroll through - it's a place to shop for over-priced everything, look fabulous in designer everything and to PARTY! Stefan pointed out that we were the fattest people in town (thanks, honey). I wanted to sit outside and watch the water and drink beer and we found a place - a driveway behind our hostel with some wooden pallets stacked up next to a light pole. It was not all bad: the hostel was terrific (see below), there is a really great place to look at and buy First Nations-designed items: the House Of Himwitsa, on the tip of the island, quite near the hostel, and we ate at the Schooner Restaurant and the Pacific Rim Hot Pot was amazing: fresh white fish, Island mussels, a scallop and plump prawns simmered in a spicy red Thai inspired curry coconut cream with basmati rice. Also had a whiskey sour. Stefan liked his salmon but said the grilled salmon I prepare back home is better.

• If you love Tofino, you are going to love Telegraph Cove as well. For the rest of us: there is NO campground there, it is packed with people, parking is extremely difficult, its packed with cars looking for parking or some place to stay and it feels like a tourist trap. If you want to go, get a reservation to stay overnight somewhere - it's the only way you will have a parking place just to walk around. Otherwise, don't bother.

• The farthest North we went was Port Hardy. Not much there, and the visitor's center was closed. But it does have really beautiful vistas of the ocean and there are some nice totems on a paved walk along the ocean. Apparently, it has excellent diving. I wish there had been a cultural center - or the visitor's center had been open (mid day on a Saturday!). I wish there had been something to take up our time for a couple of hours. There are also enough down-on-their-luck folks gathering in parking lots of varous places that I didn't feel comfortable leaving the bikes out of our view. We didn't go farther north because, from what we read, there are no vehicle accessible campgrounds on the most Northern Coast. We didn't see any signs for whale watching or other tours, so we ate lunch, enjoyed the ocean scenery and left.

• Canadian pit toilets are amazing! Clean, very little oder, using less building materials that US National Forest pit toilets (which must have a far greater problem with vandalism), and the building materials are sometimes made with recycled plastics. I still find it funny that they call them out houses, as we do back in Kentucky.
  

• Internet access or better research beforehand would have made for a better trip. I wish I had researched First Nations cultural centers and events, wildlife tours and historic towns before we left, so we had a better idea of what was in the areas where we went. Maybe we should have stayed in Victoria the first night just to get a local sim card and get our bearings - having smart phone access would have meant we could have used Google Maps and seen far more of what was around us that we might not know about just driving by. 

• Goldstream Provincial Park: the web site that recommended this said "despite being so close to Victoria, Goldstream feels like a world away." Absolutely true. You drive through an industrial area and run down neighborhood to get here and will be thinking, "There can't be a nice campground here." There is! Apparently there's a lot of hiking here as well. Get a reservation if you can to ensure you can stay here. And don't be put off as you are driving to it through an industrial and unattractive neighborhood - inside the park is another world. Added bonus: there's a Tim Horton's not too far away (too far to walk), great place to load up on coffee and get Internet access. 

• Gordon Bay Provincial Park: this is a short walk away from the very pretty Cowichan Lake, which apparently is awesome for swimming - but it was too cool to do so on the day we were there. Lovely forested campround, no doubt wildly popular in-season because of the swimming. We had it almost to ourselves.  

• Sproat Lake Provincial Park. Two vehicle accessible campgrounds, with the ‘Lower’ one being closer to the lake, also a handful of walk-in campsites located close to the lake. But we chose the upper campground because it had many more trees. The reason this campground is worth stopping at: the prehistoric petroglyphs. If you know us, or you read our travelogues regularly, you know how much we love pictographs and petroglyphs. I love how they can be found worldwide, I love how humans everywhere have always felt compelled to express themselves through art. And ongoing discoverings and research have indicated that most rock art may have been done by WOMEN. 

• Quinsam, Elk Falls Provincial Park. Apparently this place never stops taking reservations. Unlike other campgrounds, the staff here doesn't keep track of no shows or early departures, and so some sites will sit empty, despite people needing a place to stay and despite it being obvious the people who were there have left early (our camp host at this site was a jerk). Not a pretty campground, but a midway point for most people exploring the island, so it's always busy. Visiting nearby Elk Falls is a must: one blogger said "this 25 metre waterfall is one of the most impressive on the island." Suspension bridge offers incredible views but is scary and I wouldn't go far on it. It's the only hiking we did - it's so hard to hike in biker gear, and bringing my hiking sticks, which I must have for a hike, seems too cumbersome for a motorcycle trip. 
  

• HI Tofino, Whalers on the Point Guesthouse - a Hosteling International hostel. This is a beautiful hostel, one of the best I've ever been in, with a beautiful view of the ocean from the common room and a really helpful staff. But it is expensive: we got a private room, with our own bathroom (no shower), for about $150 USA. For just one night, and to have a night not camping, and a night having a beautiful dinner, and visiting House Of Himwitsa, on hindsight, it was worth it, but, wow... still can't believe we paid that much for a hostel. We were also the oldest, and fattest, people there. But Stefan got to play some pool with the Youngs, who were all in the area to surf. How do they afford to stay there? Some are working there in exchange for a room. 

• Muchalat Lake Campground is a recreation site about 15 km NW of Gold River on a hard-packed dirt and gravel road. We found out about it from our waitress at a cafe in Gold River. She told us it was fantastic and it absolutely was. It was our favorite night of the trip. It was glorious. We ended up with a site right on the beautiful lake, and with two pit toilets not too far. We did, indeed, do a bit of swimming and walked down to the shore regularly to look at the lake at different times. This was the first "oh my god I am so glad we came here" moment of the trip. It was not the last. The next morning, we continued on the road North and rejoined highway 19 to Port Hardy.

• Clint Beek (Keogh Lake) near Port Mcneill. Another fantastic, remote, picturesque recreation site near a beautiful lake. There's a big grassy area, picnic shelter and sandy beach that are well-used by locals visiting for just the day. The local tribe prohibits motorized boats, meaning it is oh-so-peaceful and is a paddleboard paradise. Added bonus: the guy camping next door with Uma the dog. 

• Kitty Coleman Provincial Park. The campground is RIGHT on the coast, and it is gorgeous. What a treasure. You can call the caretaker (250 338-1332) to check how many sites are available or just show up and hope for the best - as we did. We were lucky enough to watch a sea lion and see a rainbow over the harbor. VERY hard to find - put it on your GPS device before you go. Away from the coast, the area is filled with small, lovely farms selling all sorts of fruits and vegetables. 
  

• Staying at Kentucky-Alleyne Park. Stefan saw a "Kentucky Lake" on the map and we had to check it out. We ended up camping there. It is BEAUTIFUL. The water is a beautiful turquoise and the shoreline and lake bottom of Kentucky Lake are this beautiful gray color - we were told by a park manager it was because the area is volcanic. A small herd of deer passed through the site in the evening. The lakes are perfect for paddle boarding or canoeing. The whole area is magical. No one knew why it was called what it was called. There's a web site that claims it was named after the first black person to be elected to a provincial legislature in Canada, but that's not true - the first black provincial legislator was Leonard Braithwaite.

• Riding Coalmont Road, which is kinda sorta parallel to 5A. I was ready to buy a ranch and move there. It's a mix of paved and dirt/gravel, but very easy dirt/gravel. Added bonus was finding the historic Coalmont Hotel. Coalmont was a tiny mining town, 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Princeton, British Columbia, Canada, on the Tulameen River. The town was established in 1912 as a supply point to a coal mine at Blakeburn. When the coal mine went away, so did the town, though there is still a tiny settlement there, and several vacation homes on the nearby lake. The Coalmont Hotel opened in 1912, along with the town. It celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012 and its bar reopened for business in 2014. However, by the summer of 2015, it was all closed once more. We think someone is living in the back now. I've long dreamed of restoring and operating a historic hotel.

• We really lucked out regarding the weather and the smoke. We had less rain than we've ever had on a Canada trip, and far less smoke than ever before on any trip in the last 10 years.
  

• We don't swim in cloudy lakes and we don't go under the water when we swim in lakes, no matter how clear - we'll pass on the whole brain-eating amoebas, thanks. But I LOVE taking that dip in the water on these trips.  
  

• We so rarely end up in the same campground as other motorcycle travelers, and this trip was no exception. We see them on the road, we see them on back roads, they are out there - but we rarely end up staying in the same place. It's just nice to sometimes drink a beer and talk about the trip with someone also traveling. I wish it happened more often. 
  

• At least three people recognized Stefan's original Honda Africa Twin. We get a lot of people asking what it is, or asking why it looks different than the current Africa Twin, but these three folks knew exactly what it was. One called it "the real Africa Twin." I always enjoy when people come over to talk to us about the bikes and our trips. Most think we're on some huge RTW trip because of Stefan's panniers, which have maps of everywhere he's been on a motorcycle. They seem let down when we say we live in Oregon (and therefore haven't come that far).
  

• Cruise America / Cruise Canada has a rival: Canadream! We saw their branded vehicles everywhere. And they have camper vans and truck shells for rent, not just RVs. Every time we saw Cruise Canada or Canadream, we'd joke, "There go the Dutch." We were right next to some campers in one at one point and, yes, they turned out to be Dutch.
  

• I got more compliments for riding a motorcycle than I've ever had. I absolutely beam at "good for you!" comments.
  

• I got to sit on a Triumph Tiger that was low enough for me! I think it was a 900 GT Low Ride Height model. At 5' 4", it's rare I can sit on someone else's adventure motorcycle and touch the ground - this fit me as well as the KLR! Thanks to the guy at Kentucky-Alleyne Park for letting me sit on his bike!
  

• I wish more women rode motorcycles.

• I'm getting old and I hate it. I'll be 58 in a few months, and I feel all those years everywhere in my body. In addition to struggling to get in and out of the tent because of my aging joints and all the weight I've regained, and having my massive belly hit the tank bag when I get on and off the motorcycle, I also got sick twice on this trip, once with a cold and once with a gastrointestinal issue. I pack a variety of medications and I was able to manage all the aches, pains and discomfort without ever having to pause this trip, but it all really slowed me down, and I think it those two boughts of illness, my age and my weight absolutely affected my enthusiasm and stopped me from suggesting something like a real hike. There's no ignoring my age or my weight - and there's nothing I can do about my age. I don't want to think about the time when I can no longer tent camp, when I can no longer ride an adventure motorcycle. But I am, indeed, thinking about it. It scares me. 
  

I love my KLR so much. It's such a wonderful bike. I'm going to keep learning, and I hope, keep improving, until my body absolutely refuses to do it anymore.

Also see:

All of my motorcycle adventures to date.


My favorite North American Ghost towns / historic mining towns / pre-1900s towns

Advice for Traveling Around the USA Camping & Hiking

Women's Safety While Tent Camping

Camp however YOU want to!

Oregon and Washington suggested short motorcycle routes

Tips for Women: Getting Started as a Motorcycle Rider (just to ride, not necessarily to travel as well)

For Women Who Travel By Motorcycle (or want to)

Advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers: Packing

advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers: footwear (shoes & socks).

Advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers: Transportation and Accommodations Choices

Suggested short motorcycle routes in Oregon and Washington state (from an hour to all-day; many can be linked together to create longer trips).

transire benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good." Advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping, whether in your own country or abroad.

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