2 weeks in south-western British Columbia?

[EmilyG]

We just acquired the gift of two more weeks to add to our epic tour this summer, our Sierra Cascades (SC)/Pacific Coast (PC) route extravaganza (a giant loop from Bend, OR north to Sedro-Woolley, then over to Anacortes and south on the Pacific Coast route to SF, then back to Sierra Cascades route in Truckee and back north  to Bend).

We are not interested in doing the southern portions of either the PC or the SC routes this summer for a variety of reasons. We'll do that loop another time. But we are interested in going into Canada for a bit, and trying to figure out an interesting route. We know nothing about BC or Canada, not even sure if bicycle tourists would be allowed across boarder with the pandemic. We are both fully vaccinated though....  This portion of our ride would be in July.

So if you had two weeks, departing Sedro-Woolley and returning to Anacortes, what would you do?

[zzzz]

I’ll write this believing that a half informed answer is (or at least might be) better then no answer

Consider this:

Take a ferry to Prince Rupert
Go east on the Yellowhead Hywy
Go north on the Cassiar Hywy (37)
Go west on the Alaska Hywy
At Haines Junction go south to Haynes
Take ferry back

If this route interests you there’s a whole lot of research yet to be done. I’ve ridden a couple thousand miles in BC but only a portion of this route. I think it will come out to about 700 miles. Scenery will be fantastic.

It’s not strictly southwest bc (it actually includes some Yukon) but it’s what I got. As for Canadian COVID restrictions, hopefully by summer they’ll ease up.

I’ll add one more thing: I have ridden the Sierra Cascades route from Sumas to LA. On map section 17 you will come to a intersection that says Mt St Helens 17 miles (FR99). It’s in the middle of a 73 mile stretch w no services and I wasn’t up for a big detour so I kept going. Apparently you start seeing the blow down from the 1980 eruption almost immediately after the turn. It’s been 5 years and I’m still kicking myself for missing it. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Pete

[dhelder]

I'd ride the WA and BC ferries.  The San Juans are great: San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez.  On Victoria, the ride from Sidney to Victoria is great.  I hear the bike trails from Victoria west are great.  Denman Island and Hornby Island are good, but the road between Sidney and Comox is busy.  I haven't been to Galiano, but hear good things.  On the other side of the water, the ride between Powell River and Vancouver has much less traffic and is very nice too.  The ACA maps cover the San Juans.  The Cycling the PC book covers the BC parts.

I might also add a loop around the Olympic Peninsula.  Maybe add Westport too.   I don't think it's on the ACA PC route, but the Washington Parks maps cover it.  I'd also take 101 over the Columbia.  (The book might cover this too.)

[driftlessregion]

I'm glad  you asked. Here is a quick re-creation of a tour we took in 2016 https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35992794.
Not exact of what we rode; we got off main roads as much as possible and I've lost some of those details. But you get the idea. I would do it again

[CMajernik]

The Canadian border is closed until May 21, 2021, and might still have further extensions. You can google "Canadian border opening in 2021" and find information on several sites.