Words by Mercedes Lilienthal
No matter if you travel via ground, air or water, getting around in Western Canada often involves all three. Located north of Vancouver, BC, along the Strait of Georgia, are vast expanses of undulating hills and towering trees with scattered inlets and mountain peaks across the landscape.
The roads are far and few between the further north you go. Many are dirt or gravel and are seemingly endless paths leading throughout the rugged countryside. Waterways wind into craggy bits of nature with sea planes lined up for adventure. The surrounding areas are so serene and beautiful one could truly realize Canada’s true beauty if an opportunity arose to fly in one of those planes.
My husband, Andy, and I recently celebrated an extended weekend getaway to BC’s Sunshine Coast peninsula. We took our right-hand-drive Mitsubishi Pajero, drove through Vancouver, hopped on the Queen of Surrey car ferry from the Horseshoe Bay Terminal, and rode our way into weekend bliss.
Mercedes Lilienthal
With our Mitsubishi Pajero near Wilson Creek.
We wanted to experience a simpler and quieter side of Canada – one that boasted good food, great drink, and fun areas to explore. Hopping on the ferry made us realize we were in for a treat. Unlike many parts of Southern BC, the rainforest-covered hills rise gradually, offering up prime mountain biking, hiking, camping, and of course, off-roading opportunities.
The Queen of Surrey is part of the BC Ferries fleet and is dedicated to run the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route. This double-ended C-class roll-on/roll-off ferry has a capacity of 308 cars and nearly 1,500 folks (both crew and passengers). As this multi-deck ferry coasted along the waters past Bowyer and Bowen islands, we peered at the mountains and an endless array of evergreen trees passing by on our way to Langdale.
Once off the ferry, we traveled southeast and found our way onto a narrow and winding paved road that showcased many different homes; each with a different colour, style, and plethora of vegetation surrounding it. We felt like we were somewhere special. We continued on to the vacation home that we booked through VRBO, dropped our belongings, and backtracked to the city of Gibsons.
Mercedes Lilienthal
On BC Ferries’ Queen of Surrey that has a capacity of 308 cars and nearly 1,500 passengers.
Before making arrangements for this trip, we talked to our good friend Spencer, a Canadian that lived in the Vancouver, BC area his entire life. He knows all the good places to visit. We met him several years ago at an overlanding event in Washington and since then, have become great buddies. Spencer got into 4x4s around 1997 at his first Jeep Jamboree.
“I couldn’t drive then but by the time I went to another Jamboree in 2004, I was hooked and finally got to drive some excellent trails around Apex, BC,” he said. “I bought my first Jeep in 2007 with the idea that I’d get to explore lots of historical and abandoned places that were simply inaccessible otherwise.”
For Spencer, it wasn’t about climbing rocks or getting up a trail in a quick manner. He loved the idea of visiting almost-inaccessible places with lots of history. Five 4x4s later and the story is pretty much the same. Spencer gave us the low-down on where to do some off-roading and we were excited to see this area of Canada off-road and up close.
Mercedes Lilienthal
Putting our rubber to the test.
Andy and I didn’t want to do anything extremely technical or strenuous as we were on vacation and by ourselves (with no other 4x4 buddies on this trip). We decided to take it a little easy and didn’t want to break anything on our getaway since, at the time, this was the Terra Tractor’s first long-distance shake-down run after installing an auxiliary diesel tank from Long Range America, tearing apart and replacing much of the front end mechanicals in preparation for a planned rally. Basically, we wanted a scenic, not too difficult 4x4 trail that we could easily accomplish in one day.
With many of our excursions, we love to visit areas that are connected to off-road trails. We yearn to experience the unknown, and never know what the next dirt-packed corner may bring. Exploring new areas brings us much joy. In addition to the surroundings, you get to test your vehicle’s capability, and possibly even meet other off-road enthusiasts along the way.
As we looked at the map for the following day, we realized provincial parks were mixed in with logging areas, and many of the trails seemed accessible from several towns and the main Sunshine Coast Highway (Highway 101). We started out our day making way to the Roberts Creek area, next to Mt. Elphinstone Provincial Park. Spencer stated Largo Road was a great place to begin our off-pavement adventure, so we obliged.
Mercedes Lilienthal
We had our share of beautiful scenery to enjoy. Seen here is Gibsons, BC.
We turned right onto Largo Road and were immediately met with great gravel that continually increased in elevation. Up and up we went, through thick tree cover and occasional glimpses of the blue sky. The further up we drove, the Pajero’s little 100-ish horsepower diesel engine was getting a workout. Largo Road turned into B&K logging road (at least that’s what Google called it), with several off-shoots forming along the way.
Even though we had our cell phones and Garmin’s new Overlander GPS unit, all three devices stopped showing our trail after a while. Up and up we went with no cell service, wondering how many meters we were climbing.
Then suddenly, we popped out onto a clearing at the top of whatever hill we were ascending to expansive views of the mighty Strait of Georgia with tiny dots of land indicative of the Trails Islands near Sechelt. We knew where we were once we laid eyes on actual surrounding topography versus looking at a screen with a 4x4 profile image driving into nowhere. We did have a compass and knew our approximate location, but we just didn’t know if the road we were continuing came to an end. Nonetheless, we took a gamble and pressed on.
Mercedes Lilienthal
The end of the line at Dakota Ridge. Notice the closed gate in the back ground?
Soon afterward, we came across a sign that read Dakota Ridge. Spencer told us about this area; it was a neat place to discover. After an uphill turn, we were quickly met with patches of ice and solid areas of snow. We knew this was the highest we’d been that day. However, a gate was down blocking the road, ending our Dakota Ridge dream as we planned our return trip back down.
After we met up with the previous gravel track, we decided it best to turn downhill. We could see towns in the distance, which meant a much needed lunch and cold beverages.
None of our devices were tracking us but the road was wide and smooth – there must be some traffic up here. As we descend, twisting and curving against the landscape as the glowing sun hung low, zillions of Douglas Fir and Cedar trees whizzed past as we met our final straight section of gravel. After stopping and looking back, we realized we made our way out from the Sechelt-Wilson Forest Service Road.
It was a neat day-long adventure—one that was scenic and lots of areas to investigate. Following a day off-road adventure, we ended up at the Lighthouse Marina for an impromptu bowl of clam chowder and a local craft beer.