One of the absolute blessings of living in Port Alberni, British Columbia on Vancouver Island is the abundance of hiking trails. You can set out on one of the many trails inside the city or find one by a quick drive outside the city. There are definitely more than 10 trails around Port Alberni but here are my favourite trails for you to explore.
Top 10 Port Alberni Trails
One of my favourite ways to discover new trails is through the All Trails App. You can also search for trails on the All Trails Website. When we first moved to Port Alberni, I simply typed Port Alberni into the search bar and over 500 trails popped up.
1. Hole in the Wall
The Hole in the Wall hike is probably the most famous hike on the outskirts of the city. The easiest way to find the trailhead is to start driving out of the city and the minute you see Coombs Country Candy on the left-hand side of the highway, immediately pull out on the right side of the road. You are turning right to drive up “the hump” so the pull-out on the side of the road comes really quickly as the highway veers to the right.
I’ve hiked here on my own the first month that I moved here, brought my husband out here when he first landed on the island with our two dogs, and then we’ve brought a couple of friends out this way including both sets of our parents when they’ve come to visit. The hole is man-made. It was made for a pipeline that provided the town with fresh water before the 1960s.
2. Log Train Trail & Burde Pond Loop
This is our most hiked trail. We usually just walk the Log Train Trail portion off of Burde street with the stroller but before the babes were born we’d walk the Log Train Trail up and around to the Burde Pond Loop and back to Burde street. This trail is just a short distance from our house so we usually walk up to the trailhead but there is ample parking on the side of Burde Street on the other side of the road from the trailhead.
3. Roger Creek Trail
We’ve just recently started hiking this trail. We park at the Roger Creek trailhead off of Roger Street just up the street from the Hospital. There are so many different off-shoots so keep track of where you are heading. We really like walking down to Roger Creek and then back the way we came.
4. Stokes Creek Trail
We hiked Stokes Creek Trail with our dogs before the babes were born. It’s a great hike that you can easily get to from the highway on the way out of town towards Nanaimo. There is a pull-out across from the vet and there are usually a handful of cars parked here. This trail is on private property so always park before the gate as it can be closed.
5. Maplehurst Trail Loop
The Maplehurst Trail is located on the opposite end of town from us but we packed the kids up in the car and drove over to explore this loop. I absolutely loved how serene it was and adored walking along the raging river.
6. Stamp Falls Trail
We’ve headed out to Stamp Falls Provincial Park a few times now. We booked a camping spot in July before the babes were born and went back in the fall after they were born. We brought my parents out here to see the falls too. There is a quick little hike up from the campground that’s really beautiful.
7. Loon Lake & Summit Lake Loop
This was a really nice trail. It’s just a short drive (towards Nanaimo) from town to the trailhead for the Loon Lake & Summit Lake Loop. We headed out to the right and looped back left around the two lakes. This meant we crossed the railroad trestles first. There were three and Mike with Ryland strapped to his chest managed to get the dogs safely across while Alora and I took our time and snapped pictures.
8. Little Qualicum River and Falls
We’ve gone back to Little Qualicum Falls a couple of times. We did a larger loop on our own with the babes and then we brought Mike’s parents out here on one of their trips out to visit. I love me a good waterfall!
9. Alberni Valley Lookout Trail
We attempted the Lookout Trail hike a week after I had been cleared from bed rest after giving birth (I had quite a few complications). I don’t think that was the smartest idea (as we were both incredibly out of shape) but it was fun. The babes were still so tiny and slept the whole time. We had great weather, got a great view, and even got a little muddy on the hike.
10. Inlet Trail
So we tackled only a small part of the Alberni Inlet Trail after the babes were born because after months of inactivity both my husband and I lost our stamina and carrying the babes caused really really sore lower backs. I highly recommend this trail though for the amazing view of Arrowhead Mountain that you can see from one lookout.
We made it up to “ghost lake” and we were doing this hike in the late fall. We found ourselves with berry bushes on either sides of the trail and started to get a bit uneasy in case we encountered some black bears feasting. Hopefully we can hike so that we can see the part that runs along the ocean.
If you have a favourite Port Alberni trail that we should hike let me know in the comments!