Vancouver Island

[papab]

Can anyone suggest some good ebike rides & ride areas on Vancouver island? I'm planning a trip there, May-June, we hope to go all the way up the island. We'll be in a camper van. Good riders, we like technical blacks but nothing wrong with a fun blue or green either. My experience on the mainland BC indicates that what they rate as black is often like a dbl black in Colorado, so we might prefer the blues there.

The Privincial Parks websites say that ebikes are not allowed, is this enforced or ignored?

 

[Twisted Fork]

Cumberland, just outside of Courtenay/Comox! Hands-down the best trails I’ve ever experienced. Plan a whole week there and never have to hit the same trail twice. The entire eastern side of the Island from Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Courtenay/Comox, to Campbell River has more than enough top quality riding to keep you busy for months. Hammerfest, outside of Parksville is great. Southern Nanaimo trails tend to be heavier to rock-gardens, and Doumont on the north side is more traditional single track with smoother rock features. But Cumberland is the crown jewel for sure. Camp at Cumberland Lake Park a couple of kilometres down the road. Hit the Forbidden Plateau trails while you’re there too. Check out Trailforks to see the bewildering number of developed trails there.

All trails in BC Provincial Parks that are open to regular mountain bikes are also open to class 1 ebikes (the only exceptions being South Chilcoltin and Big Creek Parks , but those are on the mainland, west of Lillooet). BC Parks and BC in general is very E-Bike friendly. Have a blast!

 

[The Hodge]

Cumberland, just outside of Comox! Hands-down the best trails I’ve ever experienced. Plan a whole week there and never have to hit the same trail twice. The entire eastern side of the Island from Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Courtenay/Comox, to Campbell River has more than enough top quality riding to keep you busy for months. Hammerfest, outside of Parksville is great. Southern Nanaimo trails tend to be heavier to rock-gardens, and Doumont on the north side is more traditional single track with smoother rock features. But Cumberland is the crown jewel for sure. Camp at Cumberland Lake Park a couple of kilometres down the road. Hit the Forbidden Plateau trails while you’re there too. Check out Trailforks to see the bewildering number of developed trails there.

All trails in BC Provincial Parks that are open to regular mountain bikes are also open to class 1 ebikes (the only exceptions being South Chilcoltin and Big Creek Parks , but those are on the mainland, west of Lillooet). BC Parks and BC in general is very E-Bike friendly. Have a blast!

Being on the other side of the pond in the UK ..its highly doubtful that I will ever get to ride those trails but if I was looking for advice then thats exactly the type of answer I would hope to get..nice one

 

[papab]

thanks twisted fork, that's great info

 

[Twisted Fork]

As far as camping goes, there are very limited decent opportunities for Crown public land camping until you get north of Campbell River or towards the west coast, so you’ll probably want to mostly camp at the Provincial Parks or private campgrounds, depending on your need for hookups. Most Provincial Parks do not have plug-ins for charging. Campgrounds are very busy on the South Island, even in June, so you’ll need to get park reservations through the BC Parks website.

Goldstream Park about 25 minutes outside of Victoria is beautiful. There’s a few mtb networks around Victoria too, but I’ve never ridden them. You’ll likely want to spend most of your time there doing touristy stuff in Victoria anyways… it’s a really lovely city.

Cowichan River Park is a 20 minute drive to a couple of great riding areas around Duncan.

Rathtrevor Beach Park in Parksville is especially gorgeous and centrally located within a 45 minute drive of about a half-dozen riding areas between Nanaimo and Qualicum Beach (a cute seaside town worth checking out). Alternatively, Englishman River Falls Park is located right at the bottom of the Hammerfest network.

I already mentioned the Cumberland campground… that one is a municipal campground, so uses a different reservation system. It also has several serviced sites if you need access to charging outlets.

Miracle Beach Park near Campbell River is also super nice. And then, once you get north or west of Campbell River, the world is your oyster for exploring Crown Land camping. Not a lot of developed mtb trails north of Campbell river, but then you can just shift into tourist/exploration mode. Backpack into Cape Scott Park for a truly spectacular wilderness experience. Strathcona Park is rugged and awe-inspiring. Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of the island is a must-see destination too, but I’d bet park campground reservations are long sold out there. Luckily there’s also lots of Crown Land nearby for boondocking.

There’s a good reason that folks who move to the island rarely leave!

 

[papab]

More great info.
Do you think the beauty of Rathtrevor Beach Park trumps the convenience of Englishman River Falls Park?
We're use to camping without access to power, the solar panels and batteries we have don't have any trouble keeping up with ebike charging, but we usually camp in sunny areas. The trees and clouds may force us to plug in once in a while.

 

[Twisted Fork]

We always choose Rathtrevor when we go because it’s so nice there. It is only about a 15 minute drive from Englishman River Park anyways, but there’s a decent chance that reservations are already full for June at Rathtrevor. It’s extremely popular. Both campgrounds are fairly heavily treed and the camping sites themselves are very similar, but if you’re driving around to different riding areas and parking in sunny spots for the day anyways, the shaded camping might not be too restrictive. However, I think Rathtrevor also has overflow sites that are more open (picture a gravel parking lot with a table and wooden dividers between sites).

Hammerfest isn’t a huge trail network, so I bet you’d probably only ride there 2 or 3 days before trying other spots in the area. Plan to spend a good chunk of your riding time in the Cumberland and Forbidden Plateau area. You can stop by the Nobl Wheels headquarters while you’re there and drop a couple of thousand dollars on some sweet hoops if you’re so inclined!

 

[Gman086]

Cumberland, just outside of Courtenay/Comox! Hands-down the best trails I’ve ever experienced. Plan a whole week there and never have to hit the same trail twice.

Why are you recommending Cumberland??? To the best of my knowledge, that is all still PRIVATE LAND with agreement from the landowner to NOT allow eMTB’s whether they are class 1 or not: Policies - United Riders of Cumberland

Has something changed in the past few weeks???

Have FUN!

G MAN

 

[Beer Man]

That link is from 2017. Things have changed.

https://www.trailforks.com/region/cumberland-1179/

 

[Gman086]

That link is from 2017. Things have changed.

https://www.trailforks.com/region/cumberland-1179/

It’s still on their website and what does Trailforks have to do with the trail stewards of Cumberland???

 

[Beer Man]

Was there last May for a few days, and Mount Tzouhalem, and the Jordie Lunn bike park were super fun.
Heading back this may for some Cumberland riding! I have not ridden there yet.

 

[Beer Man]

It’s still on their website and what does Trailforks have to do with the trail stewards of Cumberland???

Trail Etiquette - United Riders of Cumberland

To ensure safe, enjoyable, and cohesive trail use for everyone, familiarize yourself with the trail etiquette guidelines.

unitedridersofcumberland.com

Trailforks will usually show ebike access as well.

 

[papab]

Found this:

Trail Etiquette - United Riders of Cumberland

To ensure safe, enjoyable, and cohesive trail use for everyone, familiarize yourself with the trail etiquette guidelines.

unitedridersofcumberland.com

"E-bikes that are permitted for use in the Cumberland trail network are pedal-assist Class 1 e-bikes only."
Works for me.

 

[Twisted Fork]

The no-ebike restrictions there were lifted back in 2019/20 to be consistent with the release of the Recreation Sites & Trails BC ebike policy that classifies class 1 ebikes as non-motorized. Although RSTBC does not manage the Cumberland private land trails (they have authority on Crown Land only), the policy helped set a standard that other landowners were able to adopt. All good for emtb up there.

The majority of the mtb networks on the South Island are actually on Mosaic’s private forest land. I believe they all allow ebikes now.

 

[Twisted Fork]

what does Trailforks have to do with the trail stewards of Cumberland???

Authorized trail stewardship organizations have the ability to set the trail statuses, permissions, closures, etc. of their networks in Trailforks directly. The majority of the time I’ve found it to be accurate, although on occasion there’s a delay on inputting new information when a change occurs. Probably because most of the organizations are volunteer-based and may only update annually.

 

[Mrj35]

Duncan : Tzouhalem, Provost
Nanaimo : mt benson, extension ridge (abyss), Doumont
Parksville: hammerfest
Cumberland

 

[Mrj35]

Can anyone suggest some good ebike rides & ride areas on Vancouver island? I'm planning a trip there, May-June, we hope to go all the way up the island. We'll be in a camper van. Good riders, we like technical blacks but nothing wrong with a fun blue or green either. My experience on the mainland BC indicates that what they rate as black is often like a dbl black in Colorado, so we might prefer the blues there.

The Privincial Parks websites say that ebikes are not allowed, is this enforced or ignored?

If you can get out to squamish you should check out alice lake.

 

[Quinterly]

If you can get out to squamish you should check out alice lake.

If you do follow this advice and are riding on the Mainland, you should also do a day at Diamond Head in Squamish. Some of my favourite riding.