Hammerfest Trails in Parksville, BC
After a few days exploring the Olympic Penninsula, it was time to head to Canada and mountain biking paradise!
Hammerfest Trail Network // tahoefabulous.com
We took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, and we ran into some issues. We were leaving around the 4th of July and just after Canada Day, and we ended up not booking the ferry we wanted early enough. That meant that we had to rely on the first come, first serve spaces. We got to the ferry terminal almost three hours early, and we still had to be on standby. Luckily, we were able to get on the earlier sailing that we'd been planning on. Just something to keep in mind if you're planning a similar route - buy your ferry tickets in advance or prepare to wait around for quite awhile.
The ferry boat ride (Greyson's first ever car ferry!) was gorgeous, with views of the Olympics, the Cascades, Mount Baker, and the San Juan Islands. I was hoping we'd see some sea life, but nothing made an appearance. Crossing the border went smoothly, and we were quickly on our way north to the campground I'd booked outside of Parkside. We stopped at a brewery for a sampler and some snacks in Nanaimo. (I'm going to write up all of the Vancouver Island breweries at once, so stay tuned.)
I booked a campsite at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park because it looked pretty close to a trail network when I was doing basic research on TrailForks. I figured we could stay there one night, and if it sucked, we could move on. It turned out to be one of our favorite campsites on the whole trip.
You can literally ride from your campsite at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park to the Hammerfest Trail network, which is awesome. It's super convenient, and the trails themselves are great. We only ended up riding there one day, which we regretted. Now we just have to go back!
Hammerfest Trails // tahoefabulous.com
I had a great time riding the Hammerfest trails. Obviously, in a single day, we could only ride a fraction of the network, but I found everything rideable. The climb up was a long fire road slog, but not nearly as bad as the climb in Ashland. The trails were fairly well marked, and we followed our chosen route using a combination of trail signs and the TrailForks app.
Hammerfest Trails // tahoefabulous.com
Hammerfest Trails // tahoefabulous.com
We got off the fire road on to Jughead. This trail started out heading down a hillside in a clear cut or burned area. The trail was a little rough - narrow and beat up with loose rocks, but still fun. You quickly got into the forest and the trail turned into the fun, flowy trail of my BC dreams.
Hammerfest Trails // tahoefabulous.com
Once in the cover of the trees, we switched from Jughead to Locomotion. Here is where we first encountered an issue that would cause us problems on pretty much every trail we rode in British Columbia. We're used to staying on a single trail for miles, not riding spiderweb like networks with potential turns every 100 meters or so. Even the trail network I ride most often only has a few choices. Since we weren't riding with locals, and we were just navigating for ourselves, that often meant stops at every fork in the trail to make sure we were taking the correct turn. This really threw off our rhythm sometimes. Don't get me wrong, the trails are super fun. Just be prepared to do some stopping in order to stay on route.
The last major trail we hopped on was Dem Bones. I remember this one seeming really rooty, but it turns out it was just the first taste of rooty BC single track, and we'd encounter even more roots on trails to come. We popped out just down the road from the park and rode back to camp, giddy with our first taste of BC mountain biking.
Hammerfest Trail // tahoefabulous.com
Englishman River Falls Provincial Park is an awesome campground - even if you're not into mountain biking. It's clean, the employees are super friendly, and they take quiet hours very seriously. These facts were true about every provincial park we visited in Canada, but this was a great introduction. The person driving around collecting fees even told us he was "so sorry" about our current leadership when he saw our California plates, which we appreciated.
After eating lunch and hanging around in the hammock, I decided that I wanted to hike down to the falls and check them out. Greyson wasn't feeling great at this point, but he agreed to accompany me. The falls were small but pretty, and there was a perfect swimming hole (neither of which I got a picture of, oops). We were there late enough in the afternoon that it wasn't very crowded and no one was in the water. Dipping my toes in, I could tell the water was freezing, but it was so beautiful and clear that I had to jump in. I stripped down to my underwear and dove in. The cold was shocking, but refreshing and I dove in a couple more times before I had enough.
Hammerfest Trails // tahoefabulous.com
I loved this park, the trail network, and the general area. I'd go back to visit this area in a heartbeat and I highly recommend it.