(Last updated on July 2, 2022.)
If you're looking for things to do near Woss, Port Alice or Port Hardy keep reading.
I've lived on Vancouver Island my whole life and never made it past Campbell River, Cody and I planned this back a month ago on what we wanted to do up here. Below is a Map of most of our stops that we did, from Sayward we went back home. We did around 13 hours of driving in three days with a 2 1/2 year old, are we crazy? Probably. But we had lots of fun doing it.
Monday June 27th 2022:
This was a beautiful sunny day for our first day of our mini road trip. We packed everything up in the truck and set off to Campbell River for a Pitt stop so Graeson could play at a park and we could have ice cream at Discovery Fishing Pier and walked along the pier. Graeson napped after a few more stops at the grocery store and we headed straight for our first camping spot at Klaklakama Lakes which was an hour + 1/2 from CR near Woss. Thankfully Graeson took a long snooze for most of this.
We didn't want to pay for campsites so we searched for rec sites via the Backroads Mapbook. We decided to camp at the lower one, we missed the turn and was heading for the upper ones but we turned around and wanted to find the lower ones. I'm glad we did as we did run into a gentleman who stays here quite often and told us the lower one is the best. He said the upper has a bit more beach but the campsites are nicer at the lower one.
The campsite has only 5 sites and a Pitt toilet, the site we chose I thought was the best as you had a bit of trees to cover you if it rained. In which it did a little at night so I'm happy with my choice. This is prime camping, you are right on the lake, steps away with a lakefront view and its FREE. This was amazing and I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky we are to have these so accessible. The logging road is well groomed any car could make it, beware of logging trucks however, you can even bring your RV here and launch your boat.
We enjoyed some swimming, I have to say this lake wasn't the nicest lake I have ever swam in, it reminded me of Westwood in Nanaimo honestly but with the mountains in the back and being that we were the only ones here, can you really complain?
We ended the night with burgers and a fire, luckily no fire bans yet and please make sure to Leave NO trace, please keep this spot beautiful. We heard wolves, Graeson thought that was cool and we all howled (that was cute.) Graeson didn't go down super easy this first night, he kept standing up in the tent, although it was funny, we kept trying and finally he got into his sleeping bag and fell asleep. New surroundings right, must be a lot for a little guy, we even got a bit of lightening that night. Cody and I went to bed shortly after as we both knew the next day was going to be a long one.
Tuesday June 28th 2022:
We got up around 730AM, it was an overcast day and not nearly as hot as the day before which we were thankful for as we were headed to Woss Lookout for a gruelling hike to the Fire Tower. Before we headed there we stopped in Woss which was only 15 minutes from our rec site at Klaklakama Lakes. We snapped some photos of some old trains, which Graeson loved and drove over the bridge for Woss Falls. Not really a waterfall more like a rapid but nonetheless beautiful. The town has not much but the vibe is really cool, everything is so quiet and we didn't see a soul.
The drive to Woss Lookout starts at this point, my SIL gave me a pin (click here.) as she did this hike not long ago and I guess AllTrails is wrong with the directions. I was thankful for this as it made everything super smooth into getting there. I want to say from Highway 19 to Woss Lookout it was around 13KM on the logging road. I wouldn't say bring a car, I would say a truck or SUV with good tires would be recommended as there is some pretty big rocks and you will have no service, not a place you want to get stuck at. We parked at the main (lower/first) parking lot where the sign is. It is very well marked from the highway to the trailhead. You could park at the second parking lot as there is a small little parking area just below the real trailhead, we or I just didn't want anything to go wrong potentially as it's quite steep and it does get a bit narrow in one section. If you had good clearance with a truck you would be fine. From the lower parking lot to the actual trailhead you are adding maybe 1+ KM if you don't drive up to the second parking lot. From the second parking area to the lookout is another 1.5KM. So in total we did around 6KMS roughly.
Honestly it wasn't that bad walking on the logging road, for Cody it might have as he was carrying Graeson who is over 30 pounds. We kept hearing this hike is steep, I knew it is short however so the pain is temporary. The trailhead says from the parking lot to the top should take most around 90 mins each way. We tracked it at just over two hours with stopping for lunch at the top for the whole thing there and back. If you aren't in the best shape this will be a grind for you. There is several rope, steep sections and upper body strength is required.
We enjoyed lunch here and Graeson loved the whole thing, we headed back down and set off for our next adventure Eternal Fountain in Port Alice which from the Lookout parking lot was 1 1/2 hours away. Snooze time for Graeson. I have to say for how much we did in three days, I was super proud at how well behaved Graeson was. We just made sure he had colouring books, lots of toys, and books for the drive.
Eternal Fountain, some might say this was a little disappointing for how far you have to drive out on the logging road for, so I made sure we stopped at Devils Bath which wasn't far from Eternal Fountain. I think the time distance was 17 minutes. I made sure to download everything to Google on Offline Mode. You will have no service and hardly see anyone, being that it was a weekday. I wanted to make sure we didn't get lost out here. We still do not have a GPS, so learn from me and please have one as you may never know when you'll need it for things like this. You could probably take a car here with good tires, it's pretty well maintained, just out there.
Eternal Fountain is an easy 0.3 hike in, it's part of a underground river in the area which connects to Devils Bath, Disappearing & Reappearing River and then connects to Little Huson Caves. It's a nice little boardwalk with a waterfall that flows into a swallet. Graeson was miserable here so we took some photos and left to Devils Bath which connected on the logging road we were on.
Devil's Bath is a large cenote with a depth of 44 metres and a circumference of 359, it is considered one of the largest cenotes in Canada. Which is why it is cool to say I have been here. You cannot get down there, there's only a viewing platform which is steps away from the parking area. We put on our mosquito nets and enjoyed lunch at the picnic table. The mosquitos were AWFUL! We didn't stay long due to them.
Heading back a different way which wasn't on purpose (Cody....) make sure to pay attention everything looks the same, so we accidentally took a wrong turn, but I figured it out pretty quickly we were just doing a loop and that it re-connected to Highway 30. We went around Alice Lake but on the left hand side for the way back which took an hour to our next stop. This way was actually nicer as we didn't have to be on a logging road so much. We drove past Marble River Provincial Park, which we had on our list but it was around 4:30pm and we still had lots to do.
We headed to Storeys Beach in Fort Rupert, I really wanted to go to a beach on this trip and what better beach than one with a swing! Graeson loved playing with the sand, dead crabs, swung on the swing and then we took off to our next rec site Georgie Lake in Port Hardy. The swing will be on the left hand side & about a 5 minute walk from the parking lot.
Georgie Lake is on your way to Cape Scott, it's the same logging road you would take to head there. From Storey's Beach to Georgie Lake was only 30 minutes, from BC-19 it was only 7 KMS from the highway. You will want to have a SUV or preferably a truck for this rec site and you could bring a RV here. The road is not terrible but again big rocks. I'm pretty sure I saw a bear here, beware you are in their territory there is MANY out here, we seen one near Eternal Fountain and made sure to have our bear spray handy at all times.
Georgie Lake has 9 campsites to choose from and does have a Pitt toilet. There is a boat launch as well. It is also FREE! We were the only ones here, the guy we met at the last rec site told us this is a popular party spot for locals on the weekends, and there is reminisce to prove that. I'm glad we were here on a Tuesday. We picked the best spot right near the lake, steps to the lake from our tent, STELLAR! Again this lake isn't the best for swimming, I'm glad it wasn't hot, I'm sure if you got deeper it might be nice.
After trying to set up a tarp in which we almost filed for a divorce right there (I'm joking.) but seriously if you can survive setting up a crib and tarp without a fight, your winning. We had burgers (again lol) and had a roaring fire in which both rec sites provided fire rings, we brought our propane one just incase there was a fire ban but luckily there wasn't yet. We had wood and the guy we met the night before gave us some more, it was pretty wet from the night before so I'm glad we didn't rely on just finding wood out here. Graeson was happy as a clam until he had to go to bed, he really just wanted us to cuddle him for awhile, we saw some rain clouds and figured we would just go to bed with him which it was 10PM and we had a pretty long day anyways. Then the rain came and it poured all night, was soothing to hear though as when it's still & quiet I can't help but to feel like I will wake up to a bear on me or something lol. I recommend a sleep noise machine to drown out that fear.
Wednesday June 29th:
It must have been 6:30AM or earlier when we got up, we had made sure the night before we had everything packed and ready to go as we had rain that night. We couldn't have timed packing up our tent better as when we left the rec site it started to rain again. There is nothing worse than packing up a tent in the rain. Glad we got up when we did. I actually didn't have a terrible sleep that night, I felt really well rested.
We made our first stop to Cafe Guido & Co.Ltd. this was recommended by a fellow friend on Instagram and I'm glad we stopped as we didn't have breakfast or coffee yet due to it raining at the rec site. The caramel macchiato was delicious and the bacon panini. It felt good to have some food other than chips and burgers. Our next stop which was an hour and a bit away from the cafe is Little Huson Caves Park which is nestled in the Nimpkish Valley, just a 20 minute drive off Highway 19. We saw mostly SUVs and trucks going here. I wouldn't bring a car. I'm sure people do but that's a choice for you to decide.
This was a great stop for Graeson to burn off some energy before the long drive home. The distance from the truck to the caves is under 1KM and we spent maybe an hour here. Huson Lake is not far from the caves either if you wanted to check that out here too. We went to the viewing platform first where the river exits from the cave. You will find the cave entrance on the left hand side of where the trail splits. We seen a few people here actually which was strange after not seeing a lot of people in the last couple of days.
There is so much cool things about how the karsts form, how the rocks arch and all the pretty limestone. It makes you feel like you are in another world. Graeson really liked this spot, kept throwing all the rocks in the water. Once we made our way back to the truck, Graeson took a snooze and we decided before going back home we would stop in Sayward for gas and a playground which from the caves was 1 hr + 15 minutes. We went to Sayward School, as the town is pretty small and this was the best playground we could find.
We spent over an hour or so playing here and had some lunch before heading straight to Nanaimo from here which was over 2 hours. All in all an incredible few days, and incredible memories we have with our son. I will certainly be back, as there is so much to explore and it's so untouched and quiet still. I hope you enjoyed reading about this adventure & it inspires you to get outside!
TRIP EXPENSES:
FUEL: $400+
GROCERIES: $200+
ETC (camping equipment): $85
MEMORIES: Priceless
Trip Cost: $600-$700 roughly.
Happy Trails,
Alyssa
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