See Washington’s Olympic Peninsula by bicycle
My wife, Noreen, grew up on the north end of Vancouver Island at Port Hardy, so she was surprised to receive a gift certificate from her mother, Sally, to the Long Beach Lodge Resort, eight kilometres south of Tofino.
Taking my wife to the ocean is like throwing the rabbit back into the briar patch: home.
To complement this generous gift, we decided to extend our trip to include two days of bicycling in Parksville and a day in Victoria before crossing the Strait of Jaun de Fuca to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula, the base for our self-guided tour of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
On our first day in Parksville, I wanted to check out the new 7.5-kilometre multi-use recreational trail from Parksville to Coombs.
This compact gravel trail is constructed within the railway right of way of the E&N Railway, adjacent to the existing tracks.
The E&N Railway of Vancouver Island, suspended indefinitely, is now overgrown with vegetation. The railway is 234-km long, from Victoria to Courtney, with a spur line from Parksville to Port Alberni. Sure would make a wonderful recreation corridor.
Coombs is small community 10 km west of Parksville, renowned for its Old Country Market, which features a family of goats living on the roof. This quaint village has an allure for tourists and locals alike, seeking arts and crafts, produce and just the atmosphere of the site. Butterfly World nearby and the annual Coombs Bluegrass Festival also attract visitors to the area.
On our second day in Parksville, we bicycled the 13 km to Qualicum and return using the internet’s “map my ride” information. The trail shares streets, with some isolated sections proceeding through the rain forest with a canopy of trees overhanging the trail.
In Qualicum, Noreen enjoyed the sea aromas and the ambience of a walk on the beach while the tide was out, checking tidal pools for signs of life. Following her walk, we had lunch at the Shady Rest beach restaurant renowned for its seafood.
The next day, we travelled to the Long Beach Lodge Resort to enjoy two days of resort living. This resort, located on Cox Bay, is eight km south of Tofino, just outside of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Upon arrival, we bicycled the eight-km paved trail to Tofino.
On Day 2 at the resort, while Noreen stayed behind to enjoy the ocean, I bicycled the 34-km Pacific Rim National Park highway to Ucluelet and back. The shoulder line on this highway provides limited space for cyclists, less than one metre. The weather was good for biking, but windy.
In Victoria a day early for our ferry ride to Port Angeles, we took the opportunity to bicycle the 12-km paved portion of the Galloping Goose trail, a former railway grade that goes 55 km from Victoria to Sooke. Noreen and I bicycled the full trail two years ago.
Now with highway widening, some portions of the trail have been relocated. One internet site shows the Galloping Goose Trail having 500,000 pedestrian trips per year, in 2010. We were impressed with how respectful users of the trail were, making movement safe and travel efficient.
Following a good night’s sleep, we awoke early on May 31 to catch the Black Ball Ferry to Port Angeles. The terminal is located at the inner harbour, across from the Empress Hotel and Parliament buildings, in down town Victoria. We arrived at 8:45 a.m. for the 10:30 a.m. ferry and a checkin queue had already formed. Following some cursory US custom questions, the Coho ferry departed on time for the 90-minute sailing to Port Angeles.
Port Angeles, Wash. sits between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains, the site was found in 1791 by Spanish Explorer Don Francisco de Eliza. The area was the home of the Klallam tribes with two major villages located here.
The Olympic Discovery Trail is planned as a non-motorized, multiuse recreational trail that will span about 200 km from Port Townsend in the east of the Olympic peninsula to the Pacific coast on the west near LaPush.
The developed trail begins east of Port Angeles at Blyn and traverses the peninsula to the Elwha River for approximately 70 km.
The rest of the route can be bicycled using the highway shoulders. The developed portion of the trail is a paved, or chip-sealed surface, in some cases using abandoned railway grades.
Although the trail is suitable for any bike style; mountain, hybrid or road, some grades may be steep for the unconditioned rider, especially several creek ravine crossings.
The trail is defined by several sections. After locating the nearest trailhead, we cycled the section known as the Waterfront Trail. This portion of the trail takes you from Port Angeles to Elwha River. The entire trip was approximately 40 km along the harbor and through the Olympic Rain Forest.
On our second day in Port Angeles, we bicycled a portion of the East Central section, from Port Angeles to Sequim (pronounced Skwim); Noreen returned after completing half the 33 km while I continued on to Sequim.
The first half has several steep inclines passing through some ravines. Once past this, the trail traverses the plateau, using railway grades; we didn’t know this or Noreen certainly would have continued.
My return from Sequim to Port Angeles was aided by a pleasant tail wind.
In the afternoon we drove to Port Townsend, the eastern terminus of the trail. Port Townsend’s character, established in 1851, comes from its boom in the 1880s and 1890s as a major seaport, fishing and lumber area.
Victorian architecture, built by captains and merchants abounds throughout the city. We were sorry we didn’t include a night’s stay in this historical city.
On our final day in Port Angeles, we drove to the Carrie Blake Park trailhead in Sequim to bicycle the 13 km of trail from Sequim to Blyn, the balance of the East Central section.
This portion passes through the Jamestown S’Klallam tribal reserve, the right of way donated for the trail and maintenance provided by the First Nation people.
We found that the trail through the reserve was in even better shape than the rest of the trail.
While in Sequim, we visited the Farmers’ Market that boasted about 30 vendors displaying crafts, produce and foods, with a live band playing to provide a country fair atmosphere.
Sequim lies in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and is one of the driest locales on the peninsula. The temperature was 20 C and the sky was clear the day we visited.
Sequim, with two dozen lavender farms, is known as the Lavender Capital of North America and draws thousands to its annual Lavender Weekend, to be held July 20-22 this year.
We found the community exceptionally clean, we were unable to find litter anywhere.
Back in Port Angeles, we celebrated knocking another trail off our bucket list as we reflected upon the adventure of this self-directed bicycle tour.
We had bicycled over 300 km in good weather — cloudy with sunny breaks, no rain, temperatures in the mid teens.