Sunshine Coast Trail
Length180 km (112 mi)
LocationSunshine Coast (British Columbia)
Established2000
TrailheadsMultiple access points

Sarah Point (north)
50°03′32″N 124°50′14″W / 50.0588°N 124.8371°W / 50.0588; -124.8371 (Sarah Point trailhead)

Saltery Bay (south)
49°47′03″N 124°10′29″W / 49.7842°N 124.1747°W / 49.7842; -124.1747 (Saltery Bay trailhead)
UseHiking

Backpacking

Camping

Snowshoeing
Highest pointMount Troubridge[1], 1,304 m (4,278 ft)
Websitehttps://sunshinecoasttrail.com/

The Sunshine Coast Trail is a 180 km (112 mi) wilderness hiking trail in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. The trail traverses the qathet Regional District from Sarah Point on the Desolation Sound in the north to the BC Ferries terminal at Saltery Bay on Jervis Inlet in the south. The trail goes within close proximity of the communities of Powell River, Lang Bay, Lund, and Teeshohsum, through public, private and Tla'amin Nation treaty lands. It connects provincial parks such as Malaspina Provincial Park and Inland Lake Provincial Park, as well as many recreation sites and regional parks.

The Sunshine Coast Trail is notable for being the longest hut-to-hut hiking trail in Canada.[2] Campgrounds are also available alongside the huts, and there are number access points to the trail, providing multiple options for shorter trips. It traverses a wide range of environments such as temperate rainforests, mountains, coastlines, lakes, and rivers.[3]

History

In 1992, outdoor enthusiasts formed the non-profit Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society, now called the qathet Parks and Wilderness Society (qPAWS), with the idea of creating a hiking corridor to protect and access the increasingly vanishing old-growth forests in the Upper Sunshine Coast region.[4] The Sunshine Coast Trail was completed in 2000 and outdoor groups began building wilderness huts along the route in 2009. The trail has 16 public huts as of 2021, two huts are managed by BC Parks and require a small user fee while the remaining huts are free and maintained by qPAWS and other outdoor groups.[3]

Sections

A list of trail sections from north to south as featured in The Sunshine Coast Trail Guidebook:[4]

# Section Name Note KM
1 Land's End Trail (Sarah Point) Sarah Point Hut & Trailhead 0
Sarah Point Campsite 0.6
Feather Cove Campsite 2.8
Bliss Portage Hut 8.2
Wednesday Lake Campsite 12
2 Gwendoline Hills Trail 12.1
Manzanita Hut 16
3 Thunder Ridge Trail 21.3
Fern Gully Creek Campsite 22.6
4 Toquenatch Trail 25.2
Plummer Creek Campsite 25.8
5 Marathon Trail Homestead Campsite 28.9
Rieveley Pond Hut 33.5
6 Appleton Canyon Trail Appleton Creek Campsite 35.6
7 Tla'amin (Sliammon) Lakes Trail 37.7
Kokanee Campsite 40
Shangri-La Shelter & Campsite 43.1
8 Scout Mountain Trail 45.6
9 Mowat Bay Trail 50.6
10 Tony's Trail 52.8
Tony's Point Campsite 55.4
11 Lost Lake Trail 58.3
12 Inland Lake Trail 62.8
Inland Lake West Hut 64
13 Confederation Lake Trail Anthony Island Hut 66.8
14 Fiddlehead Trail Confederation Lake Hut 74.1
15 West Tinhat Mountain Fiddlehead Landing Hut 81.4
16 Tinhat Mountain Trail Tinhat Cabin 89.3
17 Lewis Lake Trail 93
East Lewis Hobbit Campsite 93.8
19 March Lake Trail 98
March Lake Campsite 107.2
Elk Lake Hut 109.3
20 Elk Lake Loop 110.3
20 Walt Hill Trail 114.3
Coyote Lake Campsite 116
Walt Hill Hut 123.4
21 Suicide Pass Trail 126
Suicide Pass Campsite 127
22 Smokey's Blue Ridge Trail 128.1
Deer Creek emergency camp 130.6
23 Eagle River Trail 132.3
24 Lois Lakeshore Trail 136.9
Br.41 Campground 139.7
Lois Point Campsite 141.5
25 Elephant Lake Trail 144.5
Golden Stanley Hut 144.9
Br.42 - Jessie's Carved Chair Campsite 147.2
26 West Mount Troubridge Trail 154.1
Mount Troubridge Hut 157.6
Troubridge Emergency Shelter 159
27 East Mount Troubridge Trail 159.3
View Bluffs Campsite 160
28 Rainy Day Lake Trail 167.2
Rainy Day Lake Hut 169
29 Fairview Bay Trail 169.5
Fairview Bay Hut 171.2
Pirate Cove picnic site 176
Saltery Bay Trailhead 178
30 Saltery Bay Trail / Blue Grouse Ridge 168.5
Saltery Bay Trailhead 178

See also

West Coast Trail

North Coast Trail

Howe Sound Crest Trail

References

  1. ↑ "Mount Troubridge". Bivouac.com.
  2. ↑ "Sunshine Coast Trail | Things to Do | Sunshine Coast Tourism". www.sunshinecoastcanada.com. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  3. 1 2 "Sunshine Coast Trail — Hut to Hut Hiking - Powell River BC". Sunshine Coast Trail. 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  4. 1 2 Walz, R.E. (2021). The Sunshine Coast Trail Guide Book (5th ed.). Powell River: End of the Road Press. ISBN 978-0-9681166-4-7.
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