I’ve written about the Vancouver Island Trail (used to be VI Spine Trail) before but they were mostly status updates on how the project was currently going. I wanted an introductory page that explained the trail and will like to all the future posts about it. So here it is!
If you already know what the Vancouver Island Trail is you can skip to the bottom to catch up on updates. If not, read on.
The Vancouver Island Trail is a 700km long trail stretching from the southern tip of Vancouver Island to Cape Scott at the northern end.It’s going to start at kilometre zero of the Trans Canada Trail in Victoria and wind it’s way up the backbone or “spine” of the island all the way to the tip of Cape Scott at the North End.
The Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association, or VISTA, is running the whole show out of Victoria (with many trips up island) and hopes to have it complete by 2017. Canada’s 150th birthday is that year as well.They will be using as many existing sections of trail as they can to limit trailbuilding. See this post on the VISTA website to see where the proposed route is going to go.
Get the latest updates from the VISTA website or here on Pack and Trail in the Vancouver Island Trail page.
Current Status (2014)
The trail from Victoria to Port Alberni is nearly complete. There are some small sections from Cowichan Lake to Port Alberni that need to be connected and a small section on the Malahat that needs to be pushed through.Once the trail to Port Alberni is complete, it will be matter of focusing on the north island the complete the sections there.The trail will be for non-motorized transportation only, hiking, biking and running. Some sections will be open for equestrian use as well.
Help the Vancouver Island Trail
You can help by volunteering or donating on their website. They often run trail building trips or trail recon trips so you can put your hiking and digging skills to good use.