Follow the Frog!

Touring Campbell River — The Greenways Loop

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. Every kilometre or so, another little green frog. You don't need a map — you just need to keep him in sight.

It's billed as wheelchair-accessible, which is true on the surfaces (mostly paved, with some hard-packed gravel through Beaver Lodge Lands and along the descent on Jubilee Parkway). What that doesn't tell you is that there's about 167 metres of climbing tucked into those 28 km. On a regular bike, the Jubilee Heights climb is the part 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.

This is the loop the eBike was made for.

Route 1: The Full Loop (28 km, 2.5–3.5 hours at eBike pace)

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 at any of the float-houses (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, with crushed-gravel paths wide enough for two riders side-by-side. This is the Forest quarter of FROG, and it's where the loop earns its frog-green colours. 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. Rest at the lookout, then ride the long descent down Jubilee Parkway with the Strait of Georgia opening back up in front of you. You're now on the River and Greenways side of FROG, paralleling the Campbell River itself for a stretch before linking back to the Seawalk.

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 instead of three days of driving from parking lot to parking lot.

Route 2: The Seawalk Cruise (about 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, and it gives you the entire seafront experience without the inland climbing.

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 at the mouth of the river — historic Tyee Club waters, where some of the world's biggest Chinook were caught a century ago. Still a working float-plane base.
  • The Big Rock — exactly what it sounds like. 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 the snow-capped peaks of the mainland on a clear day. On the right kind of evening this turns pink.
  • 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. They sponsor Loop Day every June.

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.

What you'll need

A map. (We give you one — both sides, Quadra on one, the Greenways Loop on the other, with our favourite stops marked.) Water. A jacket if there's any cloud at all — the Seawalk wind can pick up. Sunglasses. A camera, though your phone is fine — if you want it accessible, we put a phone mount on every bike.

And the bike itself, obviously. The Loop doesn't require an eBike to enjoy. It just turns out a lot better on one.

[ Rent an eBike for the Loop → ]