Ride Campbell River — Follow the Frog!
If you’re staying on this side of the ferry, the question of where to ride has one obvious answer: follow the frog.
The Greenways Loop is a 28 km signed recreational trail that wraps right around Campbell River, connecting four landscapes the locals shorthand as FROG — Forests, Rivers, Ocean, and Greenways. It was stitched together over years by the Greenways Land Trust, the City, and a small army of volunteers, and finally signed in 2020 with circular green markers featuring an Indigenous-styled frog designed by the late Curtis Wilson — a Kwakwaka’wakw artist who lived in this community.
Route 1: The Full Loop (28 km, 2.5–3.5 hours)
Start anywhere — the Loop is, by definition, a circle — but most riders begin at the Maritime Heritage Centre near the Spit, where there’s parking, a bathroom, and a coffee at the start and finish.
Heading north, you’ll pick up the Seawalk along Discovery Passage, with Quadra Island sitting right across the water and the BC Ferries pulling in and out every half hour. Watch for harbour seals on the rocks below Big Rock, and the bald eagles that seem to follow the salmon boats.
The Seawalk takes you past the Discovery Pier (Canada’s first saltwater fishing pier — go ahead, it’s free), the Discovery Aquarium, Robert Ostler Park, and Fisherman’s Wharf where you can stop for fish and chips (Riptide is the local pick — get the halibut).
The Loop bends inland after the Wharf and starts climbing up through residential Campbellton toward Beaver Lodge Lands — 1,000-plus acres of second-growth forest right inside city limits. Cool, quiet, deer everywhere, families pushing strollers, mountain bikers using it as their warm-up. You’re in the middle of town and you wouldn’t know it.
The Loop pops out of the woods near Jubilee Heights — this is the climb. About a kilometre of steady up. On a regular bike, this is where most casual riders text someone for a pickup. On an eBike, you don’t even shift into a higher assist level. You just keep talking and arrive at the top.
By the time you’re back at the Maritime Heritage Centre, you’ve seen pretty much everything Campbell River has to show a visitor — and you’ve done it in about three hours of easy pedalling.
Route 2: The Seawalk Cruise (10 km return, 1–2 hours)
If three hours sounds like a lot — or if you’ve got someone in the group who hasn’t been on a bike in a while — just ride the ocean piece of FROG and turn around. Maritime Heritage Centre to Frank James Park and back is roughly 10 km, almost completely flat, mostly paved separated path.
This is the route I send first-timers and grandparents on. It’s also the best stretch for photos.
What to look for along the way
- Tyee Spit — historic Tyee Club waters, where some of the world’s biggest Chinook were caught a century ago
- The Big Rock — a house-sized boulder dropped on the beach by a glacier, with kids climbing all over it any sunny weekend
- The Coastal Mountains across the Strait — Quadra in the foreground, then snow-capped peaks on a clear day
- Salmon and seals — the salmon are running right past you most of the summer. The seals know.
- Beach Fire Brewing — slightly off the loop but worth the detour
Loop Day — First Weekend of June
If you happen to be visiting around the start of June, the community runs an annual Loop Day: 600+ riders walk, roll, or pedal the whole thing, with stations set up at the Spit, Beaver Lodge, Jubilee Heights, and the Seawalk at Big Rock. There’s a beer garden at the Maritime Heritage Centre at the end. It’s the friendliest day of the year to be on a bike in this town.
