🚗 Road Trips & Scenic Drives

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🚙 Campbell River to Gold River — Highway 28
Mountains, forest, lakes and plenty of places that make you want to pull over “just for a minute.” The road cuts through Strathcona country with Buttle Lake and wilderness stops along the way.

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🚙 Nanaimo to Campbell River — Oceanside Route 19A
Skip the faster highway when you have time. Highway 19A follows the coast through beach towns, ocean views and easy roadside stops on the way north.
 

🚙 Victoria → Sooke → Port Renfrew → Cowichan Lake
The Pacific Marine Circle Route is one of the Island’s great drives: ocean, beaches, old-growth forest and small communities packed into one big loop. The full route is about 289 km.
 

🚙 Parksville to Tofino & Ucluelet — Highway 4
One of those drives where getting there is half the adventure. Head through the Island toward the wild west coast, with waterfalls, forests, lakes and roadside stops before reaching Pacific Rim country.
 

🚙 Tofino ↔ Ucluelet
Two west-coast towns, one gorgeous stretch of Pacific Rim between them. Take your time, stop at beaches, explore rainforest trails and make a full day out of what could otherwise be a short drive.
 

🚙 Campbell River to Port Hardy
Keep pointing north. The farther you go, the wilder the Island starts to feel — tall forests, smaller towns, wildlife possibilities and that wonderful feeling of being very far from traffic lights.
 

🚙 Nanaimo to Port Hardy — The Big North Island Run
For when a “little drive” gets completely out of hand. This roughly 385-km journey takes you from central Vancouver Island into the rugged north.
 

⛴️ Ferry Trips
 

⛴️ Campbell River → Quadra Island
Drive onto the ferry and suddenly the day feels different. Explore Quadra’s beaches, forest roads, little communities and viewpoints — then decide whether you’re actually coming home tonight.
 

⛴️ Buckley Bay → Denman Island
A perfect slow-down day. Take the car across, wander country roads, stop wherever looks interesting and see where the Island takes you.
 

⛴️ Denman Island → Hornby Island
Why stop at one island? Continue across to Hornby for beaches, quiet roads, local stops and a day that feels much farther away than it actually is.
 

🌲 Small-Town Detours
 

🚙 Cumberland
Old mining-town character, mountain-bike energy, funky shops and plenty of reasons to park the car and wander.
 

🚙 Chemainus
Murals, little shops and an easy detour when you’re travelling through the Cowichan Valley.
 

🚙 Coombs
Yes, go see the goats on the roof — but don’t stop there. Wander the market, grab something ridiculous to eat and poke around the little shops.
 

🚙 Port Alberni
Often treated as somewhere you pass through on the way west. Don’t. Lakes, waterfalls, history and plenty of worthwhile detours are hiding around here.
 

🚙 Gold River
The kind of small Island town that rewards anyone who enjoys asking, “Okay…but what’s farther down this road?”
 

🚙 Port McNeill
A great North Island base with ocean views, nearby ferry adventures and easy access to communities farther off the usual route.
 

📍 Roadside Stops Worth Braking For 
 

📍 Little Qualicum Falls
An easy Highway 4 detour with forest trails, bridges, waterfalls and rushing pools. Perfect for stretching your legs on the way west.
                               

📍 Cathedral Grove — MacMillan Provincial Park
Huge old trees and an easy roadside stop that somehow manages to make everyone go quiet for a minute.      
 

📍 Buttle Lake
Blue water, mountain walls and plenty of places to stop along Highway 28 while heading toward Gold River.
 

📍 Long Beach — Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
If you’re driving between Tofino and Ucluelet, there is absolutely no reason to rush past this stretch of coast. 
 

🤷 “Where Does This Road Go?” Adventures
               

🚙 Take the turn you usually ignore.
Sometimes the best Island drive starts with somebody saying, “I’ve always wondered what’s down there.”     
 

🚙 Follow the ocean instead of the GPS.
If there’s a slower coastal road and you’ve got nowhere urgent to be, take it.
 

🚙 Say yes to the ferry.
Quadra, Denman, Hornby — sometimes putting the car on a boat is exactly what the day needed.
 

🚙 Stop when something looks interesting.

Beach access. A tiny bakery. A trail sign. A weird roadside stand. This is why we didn’t take the fast route.
 

🚙 Leave room for the detour.
The best part of a Vancouver Island road trip is often the thing you didn’t know existed when you left home.