Quads and Camping on North Vancouver Island

Our truck and double quad trailer.

Wayne and I like to take our quads on barge trips around Powell Lake and truck and trailer trips to land based destinations. We took our Tucson SUV to North Vancouver Island to plan a future ride.

Read more about that road trip at my Margy Meanders blog.

The Campbell River ATV Club has been instrumental in developing off-road routes using logging roads throughout North Vancouver Island. They have also worked with RCMP precincts to allow access to lodging, food and gas. Click here for more information.

There are map resources for Forest Service and logging roads.

A section of the North Island route map from the Campbell River ATV Club.

• Vancouver Island BC North Waterproof Map $14.95 available online or at tourism offices. Also available in a book format for the whole island at $25.95.
• North Island Trail Guide and app for iOS and Android (free)
• Backcountry BC Forest Service Road dynamic map
• Recreation Sites and Trails BC dynamic map
• Western Forest Products road information geo-refernced maps that work for free with the Avenza app. Also go here for road building, logging and hauling activity in their widespread tree license areas.

Here are some of the campsites we discovered on our trip.

Picture from Rec Sites and Trails BC.

Elk Creek Recreation Site: Seasonal campground south of Highway 19 near the the Sayward turnoff. Seven site campground with good availability but no direct access to logging or forest service roads but could make a good homebase then transport quads to off-road areas.

Montague Creek campground.

Montague Creek: Two small primitive sites along the river just past Sayward via Eve Main. Direct access to logging roads but too tight for us.

Upper Klaklakama Lake Campground: Small site at the top end of the lake. Too tight for us but direct access to logging roads. Another large campground farther down the lake.

Woss Lake Recreation Site campground.

Woss Lake Recreation Site: Twenty-four sites with good availability on upper Woss Lake with easy dirt road access via West Woss Road. Sites large enough for our truck and trailer and direct access to logging roads. Logging railway historical display in town.

Georgie with empty lakefront site.

Georgie Lake Recreation Site: A nine site lakeside campground reached via the Holberg Road out of Port Hardy and Georgie Lake Forest Service Road. Sites are large enough for us and there is good access to an extensive logging road network for riding. However, it is too far on rough roads for us, but we did find a travel trailer there.

Link River campground on Alice Lake.

Link River Regional Park: A 22 site campground on Alice Lake near Port Alice. This is the one for us. Good access via SE Main and there was good availability even on a holiday weekend. It has a host and reservations in summer and first come, first serve the rest of the year. Lots of logging road access in all directions.

We could stay here many times and still not explore everything. Plus there is fuel and shopping in nearby Port Alice for extended stays. Don't know when, but we will be returning with our truck, trailer and quads for a new kind of adventure up North Vancouver Island's mains.

Want to read more about our quad adventures? Three of Wayne's Coastal BC Stories books focus on backcountry adventures including Up the Main, Farther Up the Main and Powell Lake by Barge and Quad.

All three are available in print and e-book formats at Amazon and most online booksellers. In Powell River they are available at Coles in the Town Centre Mall. -- Margy