Checking out some easy walking trails in Powell River

 
By Keith and Heather Nicol

We don’t get to Powell River very often even though it is just a across the water from Comox. It is likely due to the fact that all of our nearby friends and relatives are located either in Victoria, Nanaimo or in Vancouver. But we recently decided to head to Powell River for a day trip with some cross country ski buddies to check out some of easy walking trails and to discover abit of Powell River’s  history. We took the 9:55 am sailing from Little River and landed in Powell River in time for a nice picnic lunch at Willingdon Beach Park. There is a nice trail starting at this spot heading toward the old townsite but since we had done this hike before we decided instead to drive to the old town site and former paper mill site (it began making paper here in 1912 and at one time was the largest paper mill in the world!!).  Keep an eye out for lookout overlooking the former paper mill with its interpretative signs. 

                                                           View from the top ot Valentine Mountain

From there we headed to Valentine Mountain lookout which is a short but steep trail which gives fine views of the entire area. We used AllTrails to get trail info about this hike and although it is  just 1.65 km return it does climb almost 100 meters –most of the elevation is gained through a series of steps near the top. There is a small loop at the top which gives views in a different directions and we would say that due to large steps and small drops in places that only people with good mobility hike the trail. It took us about 35 minutes to do the return hike. 

                                               Heading to the top of Valentine Mountain Lookout

From there we explored some other sections of Powell River by car and drove to Saltery Bay which provides ferry service to the rest of the Sunshine Coast. We ended the day with another short hike along the water front – appropriately called the Sea Walk which extends for almost 2 km overlooking the ocean. We took the 5:15 pm ferry back to Little River and were home in Courtenay for a late supper at 7:00 pm.  It was a great way to spend the day and if BC seniors travel midweek then the passenger fares are free!! Also you can use an experience card on this route which makes taking a car abit cheaper. Check Powell River for a different sort of day trip.  If readers have other suggestions about what it do while in the Powell River area put your observations in the comment section. 

                                                      Along the seawalk trail in Powell River