Quadra Island is the central comunity of the Discovery Islands. The majority of travellers get here from Campbell River on the Quathiaski Cove (Quadra Island) Ferry.
You can search the ferry schedule here for times of departures and arrivals. You can bring your vehicle across as well for easier travel to get to and from as the Island is small but it's still big enough you will need some type of transporation to get around.
We went on our annual girls trip to Quadra in November of 2020. During this time it was safe to travel, and right in our back yard for being on Vancouver Island. This guide will fill you in on trails you need to visit the next time you stay or when you visit the island for a day.
Trails to add to your Quadra to do list:
I haven't done all of these but I have done the majority of them. I've been to Quadra twice, once for the day and once for a week. We stayed at a cute little AirBNB called "The Cove on Quadra." This was a perfect spot nestled in a private cove off the ocean. It slept 3 of us adults and Graeson. Although cute it was pretty tight quarters, I dont think a family setting was the right fit for all of us in here. A couple or family with two small kids could work for sure. The best part of this place was the hot tub with the view. The hosts were also very accomadating to our needs. I highly recommend.
I believe we stayed on Quadra for 7 nights. We checked out a few local spots for lunch, dinner and coffee. Note because this Island is small, there isn't alot to choose from.
-Cafe Aroma (This was my favourite place for a morning coffee.)
-Heriot Bay Inn (Lots of history here, my mom loved it. The workers will tell you some of the local ghost stories of that place.)
-The Clove (Really good pizza.)
They do have a local grocery store that we stopped at before arriving into our AirBNB as it was a late check in at 4pm. We decided to do this right after we got to Quadra. Easier than doing it in Campbell River.
The Cove on Quadra is fully equipped with a kitchen and dishes. We went out for dinner a couple times to break up the cooking.
The first day was spent grocery shopping, checking in, unpacking and later soaking in the hot tub. The next morning we did Blindsman Bluff, which was one of their recommendations from where we were staying. This is definitly a less travelled trail and two ladies were surprised when they saw us hiking around there. As only "locals" really know about the bluff. This took around 2 1/2 hours.
After we went and checked out Rebecca Spit, I had gone here before but wanted to check it out again with Cera, my mom and Grae. The next adventure the next day was Maud Island, my favourite hike of this trip.
Maud Island is directly across from Ripple Rock Trail located in Campbell River which I've also done. So it was cool to check out what I was looking at when I did that one. This was one of the longer hikes we did for this trip. Round trip I believe it was under 4 hours. It was a bit more of a trek to get out here as it's on an active logging road but worth it. I believe we were the only ones out there.
Next we checked out Surge Narrows, we didn't do the whole trail only walked a little bit on it as we were just driving out in the area. We went onto the dock and looked out onto the ocean. We decided to check out Heriot Ridge as it was a short 5.3 km hike and only gains 150m of elevation.
The last day of hiking brought us to Shelligan Pass, this can be done as a loop which is 7.1 km, but we decided to only do a bit of it as it was very windy that day. We were out here for under 2 hours. Beautiful spots along the beach as well. After we just kept enjoying this fantastic view and hot tub.
I will also mention the time that Cody and I came here in 2019, I'll always remember this hike because my sister called me to tell me she got engaged! Chinese Mountain Trail had stunning views. Options to do the loop and is about 4.2 km. With moderate difficulty and only 282 metres this hike is a must do while you are here. Cody and I if i recall got this done in under 2 hours.
Another great idea, that we were going to do was head over to Cortes Island. We opted out of this idea due to weather. To find the ferry schedule click here.
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