We used to call this ride “The Triangle”. A link between Parksville, Coombs, Qualicum Beach, and back to Parksville. Because of the nice bike path in French Creek, we would bypass it without really noticing. Might also be that there is no town centre there, more of a residential suburb. But there it is on the map below, French Creek, and it’s not a triangle, so we’ll just call it the Full Circuit. It has remained our ride of choice. Three to four hours, with lots to see and do on the way.
26 Km. 250 metre climb. About 2.5 hours. (But you need to add your off-spurs and loafing time!)
Riding from our premises? Check out our video on youtube
You can access the Full Circuit from anywhere you happen to be. Where you’re living or where you’re staying on holidays. It took us a while to piece the whole thing together. I’ve written about most of this circuit in a series of posts, section by section.
Clockwise from Parksville:
Counterclockwise from Qualicum:
The only link-up missing is from the Wembley Mall (in the area close to the Little Qualicum Cheeseworks off-spur), to the trailhead behind the Springwood dog-park on Despard. Seeing as some of us learn with words, the list of roads is below. For those of us that learn better with images, the detailed map is below too! If you learn best with sound, have your biking buddy read it out loud to you as you fall asleep the night before!
- Going south from Wembley,
- right on Church,
- at the traffic circle go three-quarters of the way around onto Humphrey,
- and follow the bike path signs, right onto Renz,
- which curves left onto Hirst,
- turn right onto Chestnut,
- at the T, turn left onto Despard,
- the sign for the trailhead should be visible a few hundred feet
Electric bikes are not considered vehicles and are permitted in RDN Parks and Trails.
The official RAIL TRAIL map can be accessed from the RDN website (Regional District of Nanaimo)
Cheers,
The Bark Echo eBikes Team
