Easy hiking trails on Quadra Island

by Keith and Heather Nicol
 On the last day of September we headed to Quadra Island with Judy May, a friend who was visiting from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The day was sunny with light northwest winds and we were looking forward to checking out some of the easy hiking trails. We first headed to Rebecca Spit where we had done a first rate sea kayak trip earlier in the summer (see http://keithnicol.blogspot.ca/2015/05/sea-kayaking-in-rebecca-spit-area-of.html). Our plan was to hike to the end of the spit and we drove to the large parking lot at the end of the road and set off toward the end of the spit. Parking lot coordinates are: 50 6’ 5.66” N and 125 11’ 16.15” W. This trail is about 1 km long and so the entire hike will take you about 30 minutes of walking. But the scenery is magical and we spent about an hour overall taking photos and watching the fog roll in and out along the shore.

Judy and Heather walking at Rebecca Spit

      After lunch on a sunny log overlooking Heriot Bay we decided to head to the Kay Dubois trail which is located a few kilometers further south from Rebecca Spit. This trail has 2 starting points but opted to begin at the end of Smiths Road. You could also start at the end of Sutil Road. This trail is 2-3 km long (1 way) but we explored just part of it. The trail is mostly in the trees but has many beach access points. On this day the fog floated in and out so we didn’t get much view but we vowed to return to complete the trail when the visibility was better. One bonus of the fog was that cob webs intercepted the cloud droplets so that they were glistening when the sun shone on them.   

Heather at the base a huge tree on the Kay Dubois Trail

Our last trail was Haskin Farm trail which starts from the intersection of Smith and Heriot Bay Roads. It is about 1.5 km (1 way) and it winds through the forest before descending steeply to the beach. It passes by an old farmstead complete with an old apple tree which we took advantage of. Like the other trails this one is well marked and by the time we reached the water the fog had cleared giving good views of splendid landscape of ocean and mountains to the east. All of these trails are marked on the tourist map of Quadra and it lists another dozen or so that we are interested in checking out. The trails we took were some of the shorter trails on Quadra Island and they would interest a wide range of walkers and hikers. Check them out on your next trip to Quadra Island. 

The view to the east from the beach at the Haskin Farm trail is impressive