Travel just a little further south and you’ll bump into Nanaimo River. A fantastic way to beat the summer heat, it first runs through the 4 Nanaimo Lakes; First, Second, Third and Fourth. The large undeveloped area around the lakes offer a refreshing view into the scenery the island has to offer, even it has been partially logged.

There’s so much you can do around Nanaimo Lakes. You could spend weeks exploring. There are 4 campsites on First lake, fishing on First, Second and Fourth, beautiful spots to swim on the river and epic views to hike on the surrounding hills.

Camping near Nanaimo Lakes

First Lake is home to 4 different campsites. Mosaic Campsites has the official information for the sites in the area and how to book ahead of time. The Nanaimo Lakes campsites are in the Central Island section.

Deadwood Campground is near the gate to the area at the east end of first lake. Riverside and Windy Point are located at the west end of the lake where the river flows in from Second Lake. Old Mill campground is further along the road on the south side of the lake.

All 4 campgrounds are open April 1 to October 11th. Recently it’s been $29-$33 per night to stay in the area. This can change without warning so check the online booking site.

Keep in mind that the campsites and hiking tails are on private land owned by Mosaic. They control this land and can close it at any time if they run into problems. In the past the entire area was closed after some equipment was damaged or fire risk is high.

There is one gate before First Lake that controls access to the campsite and another at Second Lake. The second gate at Second Lake is often open only for logging.

Treat the area with respect and it will be open more often.

Hiking near Nanaimo Lakes

A lot of the Nanaimo Lakes area has been logged. This has it’s pros and cons. The active roads give good access to the remote areas around the Nanaimo Lakes. The very reason the roads are there though, is to give the loggers a way in to remove trees from the hills.

Clearcuts aren’t the prettiest thing to look at. Areas that have had a chance to grow back but still have logging roads for access can make for good places to hike.

As soon as you enter the Nanaimo Lakes area you’ll be surrounded by medium-sized mountains. Second Lake is straddled by Mount DeCosmos at 1531 meters to the north and Mount Hooker at 1263 meters to the south. As you get past Second lake you’ll start to see Mount Moriarty to the north. Drive a little further and turn south you’ll end up with Green Mountain, Gemini Mountain and Butler Peak to your left.

Fishing on the Nanaimo Lakes

If you have your own boat, you can do some fishing in one of the Nanaimo Lakes. Each of the lakes has a boat launch for anyone to use. First and Fourth Lake are stocked with Rainbow and Cutthroat trout each year. A few other species have been found in the lakes as well.

All the lakes are limited to 10 HP engines.

Be sure to check the local regulations for fishing the river as it’s different than the lakes.

Swimming in the Nanaimo Lakes

The Nanaimo Lakes are perfect for swimming in during the warmer months of the year. There are many different places to access them but most are through the campsites. Some of the lakes have smaller access points as well that make for great places to cool down during the summer.

Skiing near Nanaimo Lakes

If you’ve got ski touring gear or snowshoes, you can make use of the hills around the Nanaimo Lakes area. For years, Green Mountain was a community run ski hill. They ended up shutting down in 1984 but the old ski runs remain and are still a great place to get some turns in. You just have to get yourself to the top!

Getting to Nanaimo Lakes

Nanaimo Lakes can be reached by travelling south from Nanaimo and taking a right onto Nanaimo River Road.

You can also reach them by travelling south on Nanaimo Lakes Road off of Wakesiah Ave in downtown Nanaimo. Check out a Google map out of how to get to Nanaimo Lakes from Nanaimo.

Get Outside!

I highly recommend checking out the Nanaimo Lakes area. It’s a beautiful area so close to Nanaimo and is rarely busy like the pretty spots close to town. This post is only a taste of the places you can go and things you can do out there. I’ll be updating this post when I find new and exciting information so check back often!

As always if you’ve got any questions or comments, message me through the contact form, email me, or leave a comment below.

The post Nanaimo Lakes first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Extension Ridge is a beautiful part of the trail with single track winding all the way up and along the ridge. A power line crossing offers some mixed views, nice to see the neighbouring hills but for that you get to see the powerlines and towers as well.Some photos below are from the last trip I had out there. It was an overcast, wet day, perfect for keeping the heat down while hiking.

The post Extension Ridge from Extension Road, Nanaimo [Trip Report] first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I’ve been north from Haslam Creek before, along the suspension bridge then on to Timberland Lake but I had never made the hike south to connect to Christie Falls near Ladysmith. If you haven’t, you’re not missing much. The hike is all logging road but if you end at Christie Falls then it’s a worthwhile adventure. I got a few photos out of it anyways.

I had to start walking at an orange gate. I drove the truck to this point along the potholed logging road. The dirt road had some deep holes up to this point but it didn’t require a 4×4.

It looks like the road is deactivated and not used much. It’s still a logging road though.

The brush on either side is quite thick and pretty. The sun was trying to shine through when I was out.

Logging road walking.

The sun cut out and left us in the fog.The first bridge you cross heading south. After the bridge head left to Christie Falls and the final bridge. If you turn right, it heads up to an abandoned mine. I’ll try and post some directions to that one soon.The final bridge (or first if you are heading north from Christie Falls) has a Trans Canada Trail sign near it. You can see where to go and what else is in the area.

** One note on signage, I didn’t see any. The best I could see was at Haslam Creek and then one random trail marker on a fence post heading south from there. That was it until the sign near Christie Falls said that was the Trans Canada Trail. Not sure why the other sections are so well marked and this one isn’t. It makes it a bit confusing. I had to drive in a few circles near the Haslam Creek entrance just to make sure there were no other roads for options to take. I recommend grabbing the GPS track to follow so you don’t get turned around.

If you don’t mind some dirty puddles you can from Haslam Creek and the powerlines south along the dirt road until you hit the orange gate. The woods are pretty around the road south of the powerlines so you could walk these. I just drove as far as I could and then started the hike.

Have you been along this stretch of the Trans Canada Trail? What did you think?

Let me know down in the comments below!

The post Trans Canada Trail: Haslam Creek to Christie Falls first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Years ago, I hiked from Haslam Creek up to Timberland Lake, a section of the Trans Canada trail. It was an easy hike, not a ton of interesting trail as most of it was on logging road. Timberland Lake at the end was beautiful. A bit of trash around from offroaders but the sun was out and reflecting off the water just right.

Around the corner from Timberland Lake is the White Pine Trail that continues up to Spruston Road. I left the lake after seeing one of the White Pine Trail signs and that was the last I saw of it.

In searching around for trails to hike next for Pack and Trail, I stumbled on the Trans Canada Trails again. I’ve been coming back from an ankle injury and needed some easy trails to wander. I headed out to check on the White Pine Trail.

The White Pine Trail

At the end of Spruston Road the trail signs start. The road is rough but there’s a bit of a pullout where you can park your car.

The trail starts out beautiful single track through the woods. It’s marked with orange markers on the trees with the odd “Trans Canada Trail” marker that was a bit bigger. Any major forks had a big blue signpost. 

I spent most of the hike just taking in all the green around me. I’ve been healing up an ankle injury lately and was just happy to be on the trail at all, nevermind on a nice day like this. It was a bit cold though. Hard to operate the camera too much when you can’t feel your fingers. 

The trail pops out onto the logging roads and continues to Timberland Lake. 

The trail was well signed. At points the signs were off in the trees. I’m sure they were once very visible but now they’re off in the brush a bit. Any time I needed to know the direction though there was a sign right there. Just need to look.  

Timberland Lake was pretty as usual. 

I had the feeling we were being watched. Then out popped this little guy from the woods. The funny thing was that Della (my dog) was going crazy at a tree in the other direction because she thought she heard a squirrel. Not so much a hunter. I had plenty of time to capture some shots of the squirrel munching on something sitting on a log.

The Verdict

Would I recommend the White Pine Trail? The south end of the trail just before Timberland Lake is just logging road which isn’t very pretty but the single track on the north end was beautiful. Easy walking over well-maintained trail made for a good hike. The trail was well-signed aside from the few in the trees.

The Nanaimo River

I took a quick look down the trail that goes down to the Nanaimo River as well. It’s easy double track to hike. We didn’t get very far though. It turns into rough single track and heads back up into the woods. There were a couple of trail forks that probably head down to the river but I didn’t have time to follow them.  

The post White Pine Trail first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Places to Run in Nanaimo

Parkway Trail

The 20km paved trail along the Nanaimo Parkway is a perfect place to run if you don’t mind the noise of the traffic. These days it’s almost impossible to run somewhere completely away from the noise of the cars and trucks and the parkway trail gets you off the road and on to a nice paved track. The trail winds it’s way all the way from Chase River in Nanaimo’s south end to near Woodgrove Mall in the north. Run the entire thing if you want or hop on and off at intersection points along the way. Popular intersection points are at Jingle Pot (near Westwood Lake), Northfield road and Mostar Road.You can see the Parkway Trail and other great paths on the Nanaimo Parks and Trails map.

E&N Trail

The E&N runs along a section of the old Island Highway through Nanaimo. It’s a paved track off the side of the highway similar to the Parkway trail. If you live in an area that the E&N Trail runs through it’s an excellent place to run without having to get on the road.Check out the E&N Trail and other places to run on the Nanaimo Parks and Trails map.

Seawall

The Nanaimo Seawall runs 3.5 Kilometers from the Cameron Island complex downtown Nanaimo north to the Brechin Boat Ramp. The scenic trail runs along the water the whole way and intersects a number of roads and other paths that run down to the water. Run the entire length or just take in a small piece of it. Either way, you won’t be disappointed with the fabulous views and fresh smells along the way.

Linley Valley

The largest forested area within Nanaimo, Linley Valley and Cottle Lake is a hidden treasure inside the city limits. Enter off Rock City Road, Linley Road off Hammond Bay, or Burma Road off Lost Lake Road and wander through the beautiful forests and well kept trails. Nearer to the Rock City entrance is Cottle Lake, a small lake home to many birds, a few fish and some other woodland creatures. If you’re looking for a wooded area with smooth trails for a run, this is one of the best areas in Nanaimo to do it.

Westwood Lake

One of Nanaimo’s most popular lakes and walking destinations, Westwood Lake is perfect for all your outdoor pursuits. Walk around the lake and take in the views or ramp it up a bit and job around the 6km loop around the lake. Afterwards, cool off in the lake itself, at one of 2 or 3 different swimming areas around the lake. If you need something different or slightly longer, head across the powerlines behind the lake into the dog offleash area and Westwood Ridges. The Ridges overlook the lake and down onto Nanaimo for some beautiful views. For the adventurous, turn off onto the adjoining trails near the south end of the lake and head into Morrell Sanctuary for a longer run. One of the routes to the top of Mount Benson starts at the Westwood lake. This route is longer and slightly more complicated than the one from Witchcraft lake but is less steep.

Colliery Dam

Another beautiful off-road area right in Nanaimo, Colliery Dam is one of the sources of water for Nanaimo. You can find the park at the intersection of Wakesiah and Sixth Street near downtown Nanaimo. There is plenty of parking and information at the entrance to the park. For the adventurous continue on the trails right up to the Parkway Highway and continue underneath to find a great selection of mountain biking and trail running trails on the other side. Continue along the power lines over to Morrell Sanctuary or head back into Colliery Dam park.

Morrell Sanctuary

Referred to multiple times above, Morrell Sanctuary is right next door to Westwood Lake park and can be reached from Colliery Dam as well. You can head straight through Morrell and across the power lines to reach one of the routes up Benson or the entrance to K2, a favorite mountain biking trail that runs parallel to the power lines. Just wandering through the well-maintained single and double track through Morrell is a treat in itself all times of year. Be sure to wear appropriate footwear in the wetter months. There can be a considerable amount of mud on some of the trails!

Bowen Park

Bowen Park is home to the beautiful Millsteam river that actually seems some salmon run during the season. Take in sights of the river over a number of bridges in the park. The steam eventual runs out in the Nanaimo Harbour right next to Mafeo Sutton Park downtown. Most of the trails are paved in the park but it still gets you away from the sounds and smells of the traffic nearby.

Caledonia Track

One of the few tracks in town, Caledonia track and field area is a great place to run if you need an offroad place to run but can’t travel too far. The field is well-maintained during the year and sees soccer, football and ultimate teams playing and practicing almost year round.

Running Stores in Nanaimo

FrontRunners and Running Room are two of the best running stores in town but there are a bunch of others that carry running shoes and the required gear for getting out on the trail. Find more outdoor and running stores in Nanaimo, Victoria, or Tofino.

The post Running in Nanaimo first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Disclaimer: We try to keep these directions up to date but they can change without notice because trail reroutes and logging.

Mount Benson from Witchcraft lake

Witchcraft trail up Mount Benson

One of the more popular ways to get up Mount Benson is from Witchcraft Lake. Getting to Witchcraft is straightforward. Driving along Jingle Pot from the south end(near the pub) take a left onto Kilpatrick Road. Nearly at the end of Kilpatrick turn right onto Benson View (Google Maps shows Kilpatrick going all the way to Witchcraft lake right now but that is incorrect). At the end of Benson View Road is Witchcraft Lake. The trail starts at the very end of the road near the yellow sign.The trail from Witchcraft is easy to follow with new signs provided by NALT. It’s about 3 km to the top from Witchcraft Lake and takes most people 2-3 hours.

Download the GPS track for Mount Benson from Witchcraft Lake

Mount Benson from Westwood Lake

Westwood Benson Trail

You can also hike up Mount Benson from Westwood lake. This trail is a little harder to follow than the one from Witchcraft. It is less steep but longer than the Witchcraft trail.To hike up Mount Benson from Westwood:

1. Start by going around the east end of the lake (to the right if you are facing the water from the main parking lot). Go all the way around the end and turn up onto the powerlines around the back.
2. Continue across the power lines and go straight up into the woods on the other side.
3. Continue straight up this trail all way up until you cross a stream and enter a clear cut. Follow the trail through clear cut and cross the road on the other side.
4. The trail goes from here up onto another logging road.
5. Cross this logging road, the trail continues just on the other side of it.
6. Turn right on this logging road and hike to where it intersects another road to form a “T”.
7. At the “T” intersection a trail will continue straight into the woods. Follow this trail until you hit another logging road then turn right and head up along this road.
8. Follow this road until you hit another intersection and a sign post.
9. From here you can go right and connect with the Witchcraft lake trails or you can go left and follow the Te’tuxtwon

From here there are good signposts up the rest of the way to the top. Basically follow the trails all the way up!

Mount Benson from Nanaimo Lakes Road

Benson Access Road

There is an access road that runs to the top of Benson but it’s gated to prevent vehicle access. While this prevents vehicle access you can still hike, bike and road the road that leads to the top. Head out Nanaimo Lakes Road from Wakesiah Ave. Where it changes from Nanaimo Lakes Road to South Forks Road there is a dirt road that leads off to the right. Take this and drive to the yellow gate. Crews still go in and out of the gate on a regular basis so don’t park in front of the gate. Start hiking at the gate and take right fork of the logging road. Follow the main road for about 5k and then take a right hand turn onto a smaller logging road. Follow this smaller road right to the top of Mount Benson! This way is quite a bit longer than the other two coming in at about 8 km each way. Check the photo below for what the smaller access road turn off looks like. I recommend grabbing the GPS track to know exactly where you are going.

Download the GPS track for Mount Benson from Nanaimo Lakes Road

Now go hike Mount Benson!

Getting up Mount Benson is easier than you think. If you haven’t been up there yet, you should pick a nice sunny day, pack up some food and water and get out on those trails.

As always, if you have any questions fill out the Contact Form or leave a comment below!

The post Hiking Mount Benson first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Directions to Haslam Creek Trail

Turn onto Timberlands Road across the highway from the Cassidy airport south of Nanaimo. Drive to the end of the road, you will go left around a sharp corner at the end. At the end you’ll hit a gate that should be open. Go through and into a big gravel pit. Drive straight through and take the road on the right. About 1k along this road you will see a blue sign and fence on the right hand side. This is the trail entrance. See the Google Map to Haslam Creek Trail for more info. The trail itself is well signed. Follow the blue signs on the trail posts and you’ll have no troubles staying on the trail. 

Haslam Creek Suspension Bridge

Take the trail along the fence for about 1 km and you will see the suspension bridge. The sides are chain link and the bottom is a rough grate so it’s very safe. Dogs should fine fine walking along the metal, people who are afraid of heights might be a little uneasy in the middle though. After the bridge stay left on the main trail and you’ll hit a logging road. Head left along the logging road. After about 1km you’ll start going uphill on a smaller trail. This section can be very wet.The trail heads uphill for a while here and then back out onto logging road. Another km and you will be very close to Timberlands Lake.

Timberlands Lake

Take the small road on the left before the lake to go around to the near side or continue on around the right to get to the main open area on the lake. The sign posts will lead you to this open area. Unfortunately 4x4er’s like this location as well so there might be broken glass. This is a fantastic location to have lunch in the sun and explore the shoreline. The main opening on the far side will get the most sunshine especially in the afternoon.

White Pine Trail

Near the main area on the lake the road continues on and hooks up with the White Pine Trail. This section of the trail continues on North to Spruston road and eventually Nanaimo River.

Additional Info

Trailpeak page for Haslam Creek Trail

The post Hike in Nanaimo: Haslam Creek Trail first appeared on Pack & Trail.

One of the best so far has to be Green Mountain. An old ski hill abandoned before I was even born, its gentle slopes and wide open terrain make it a beautiful place to be any time of the year. Since my first attempt I’ve been up 3 times since and the trips have been very worth it.

A few weeks ago during our week of beautiful warm sunny weather, some friends and I made the trip out. The snow had started to recede and from all the melting and freezing, had packed down considerably. We all had snowshoes just in case but didn’t even pull them off our packs for the hour and a half hike to the summit. The snow was more than hard enough for us to cruise right over all of the terrain and straight up the wide open ski hill.

The hike starts with a gentle climb up the old access road. We were forced to park the truck a couple minutes hike down the hill from where we usually depart because of the snow. It was hard enough to drive to where we did but without chains, I wasn’t getting any further around the last steep corner. The road is typically very good aside from the snow that can get quite low in the winter. There is one washout about half way up the mountain that definitely requires a 4×4 of some sort. You could walk from here but it would probably add another hour to the hike.

Near where we usually leave the access road and turn up onto the open meadows there is a deep stream that melts all the snow above it. From the stream to the top of the snow it was about 10 feet but that includes a drop in the dirt below the snow as well. 4×4’s might be able to get past where we normally park but they would definitely not make it past this ditch.

Slightly wet from hopping into the stream at the bottom of the ditch, we headed up the open meadows and into the trees. During the summer the meadows are covered with bright green ferns. It is an incredible sight. We popped through the trees, over the access road that has curled around and is winding it’s way up the mountain and onto one of the main ski hill runs. The lodge is around this area but with all the snow that covers during the winter the burn rubble and foundation were nowhere to be seen.

The rest of the hike to the summit went quickly thanks to the great company, hard snow and beautiful blue sky and sun above us.

With 200 meters left to go to the summit there are some steep craggy bits that need to be negotiated. Heading right you can pick your way up and over the rocks and on to the summit plateau at the top. If that isn’t your thing you can head left to the west side and up a steeper but snow-covered section. We decided the rocks looked like fun this time and ascended those with no problems. There was ice on the odd rock so care had to be taken no to slip down to the bottom on the pointy rocks.

With the only difficult section behind us, we winded our way through the last few trees at the top before hitting the actual summit and were greeted with a heavenly view off into the rest of the snow-covered mountains with the sun shining brightly in the sky. Summit beers were out  and everyone was contemplating digging a snow cave at that very spot and spending the night, or the week!

The post Green Mountain on a Blue Bird Day first appeared on Pack & Trail.

While a very nice car with loads of power and traction, I wasn’t sure if it had the ground clearance to make it over the many small ditches that littered the approach to De Cosmos.

The second thing was that even though the weather looked promising for the next 12 hours, I couldn’t help but wonder if the weather magicians had called this one right. Rain was closing in fast on the forecast and I couldn’t shake the anxious feeling we’d get stuck out on some bluff in a foggy, snowy storm.

Valley behind De Cosmos

The third reason was that my friends and I have been trying to knock of De Cosmos for a while now and something always comes up. Gates are closed, we don’t know the way, motorcycle chains break, we run out of time. The reasons we’ve turned back already planning the next attempt a great in number.

I’m happy to say we finally accomplished what we’ve been gazing at for years from Nanaimo and Mount Benson.

Izzy, Ryan’s Impreza, handled the road and ditches wonderfully although we did put a little crack and a couple scratches into the paint coming back down. A truck or higher vehicle is highly recommended for the road that we took. That said, we were only able to make it up all the way to where we parked because Izzy was so short. A tree had fallen across the road and any taller vehicle wouldn’t have made it through. Magically on our way back, it had been sawed in half and removed from the road.

We got to within about 3 km from the peak of green on the road. Let me remind you that this was as the crow flies. We definitely couldn’t hike as the crow flies! We followed the road as for as we could go and then summited the small peak next to De Cosmos. Luckily there is a high ridge in between this secondary peak and De Cosmos. The hike would have probably take 2 additional hours if the ridge wasn’t there and we had to descend into the valley and up the other side to the peak. The ridge dropped maybe 20 meters total as we traversed and definitely saved our backsides from the otherwise steep terrain.

The snow ranged from soft and powdery letting us sink through to past our knees to solid ice. The snow that was out in the open was quite soft while that in the trees had melted more and frozen making for a tough hike over sections on the ridge. Snowshoes would have helped a great deal but we might have had to take them off for the steeper sections. I think it would have cut 10 to 15 minutes off our trip time but our legs would have thanked us!

The post Summiting Mount De Cosmos first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Outdoors

Valhalla Pure Outfitters

Everything you need for heading into the outdoors, they’ve got gear for hiking, running, AT and cross country skiing, climbing, kayaking and snowshoeing. I have to put in a bit of a disclaimer here; I worked there for a while and loved it.

Valhalla Pure Website |  Directions to Valhalla Pure | 250 751 8686

ONO Work and Safety

Not your typical outdoors shop but they do have lots of outdoor gear, first aid, and trades gear.

ONO Website | Directions to ONO’s | 250 390 4556

Atmosphere

Atmosphere Website | Directions | 250 751 1425

Cabellas

Cabella’s Website | Directions | 250 390 7800

Climbing

Romper Room

“Since 1996 the Romper Room has been Vancouver Islands Premier Indoor Rock Climbing destination …For Fun …For Fitness …To Challenge Your Mind! We are dedicated to providing a safe and fun climbing experience for everyone!”

Romper Room Website |  Directions to the Romper Room | (250) 751-7618

Running

Frontrunners Nanaimo

Looking for a clinic for running? Talk to the folks at Frontrunners.“At Frontrunners we pride ourselves in our clinics. Whether you are looking for a group to walk with, looking to start a run/walk program, or looking to improve your running performances we have a clinic to help. Our clinic leaders are trained in running and walking techniques, injury prevention, and basic nutrition and are there to answer any questions you may have.”

Frontrunners Website |  Directions to Frontrunners | (250) 729-8200

Running Room

“The Running Room reputation has been built upon product innovation, quality and the knowledge of our sport.Through the input of our customers and the staff, our products have been tested and proven as products of choice. The Running Room’s unique private label products have been developed to provide customers with the best in style, functionality, fabric innovations and reasonable price.”

Running Room Website |  Directions to Running Room | (250) 758-4018

Biking

Apex Bikes

Website | Directions | 250 933 5075

Arrowsmith Bikes Nanaimo

An excellent bike shop in Nanaimo. Arrowsmith firmly believes in a better life through cycling.

Arrowsmith Bikes Website |  Directions to Arrowsmith Bikes | (250) 758-6675

Bastion Cycle

Another locally owned bike shop in Nanaimo. Definitely talk to these guys if you’re looking to get into cycling.

Directions to Bastion Cycle | (250) 758-2453

Pacific Rim Bicycles

“Whatever category of bike you are looking for, whether it’s a Mountainbike, Hybrid, Comfort, Beach Cruiser, City / Commuter bike, Touring, Road, BMX, Tandem, Recumbent, Kids, or even Off-road Unicyle’s, that’s right we can get you one. Stop by, I think you’ll find what you’re looking for. And if we don’t have it, we’ll do our best to get it for you.”

Pacific Rim Website |  Directions to Pacific Rim | (250) 758-2118

Rock City Cycles

Rock City Cycles Website | Directions | 250 760 0211

The post Outdoor Stores in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island first appeared on Pack & Trail.