Understanding the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia

The Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia : FAQ Guide
 
What is the TCT like in B.C.?

 
The Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia is one of the most spectacular, demanding, and rewarding provincial sections of the national route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a province of mountains, valleys, forest service roads, rail trails, trestles, tunnels, ferries, urban pathways, coastal forests, and the long-awaited arrival at the Pacific Ocean.

 
For us, British Columbia was the tenth province of our #Hike4Birds journey and the final province of our east-to-west crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific. By the time we crossed Elk Pass from Alberta into British Columbia, we had already walked across Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. We had crossed prairies, cities, highways, rail trails, river valleys, and mountain passes. British Columbia did not feel like a separate section so much as the final segment in a long journey that had been building for years.
 
The province changed the character of the trail almost immediately. Distance still mattered, but topography began to matter more. Daily stages were shaped by mountain valleys, forest roads, rail grades, wildfire damage, flood closures, and the seasonal realities of whether we could reach the Pacific before winter settled in.

 
British Columbia includes some of the most remarkable trail sections we walked anywhere in the country. The Elk Valley, Chief Isadore Trail, North Star Rails to Trails, Grey Creek Pass, Columbia and Western Rail Trail, Kettle Valley Rail Trail, Myra Canyon, the Fraser Valley, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver’s urban trails, the Cowichan Valley Trail, and the Galloping Goose all became part of the final approach to the Pacific.
 
At the same time, BC also made clear that even a province with extraordinary trail infrastructure is not immune to disruption. Wildfires, floods, landslides, forestry operations, and reroutes all shaped our experience. British Columbia showed us the Trans Canada Trail at some of its best, but also reminded us that trails are not static. They exist in living landscapes, and living landscapes change – the result being that trails need to be constantly adapted to the realities of the world.
 

Where does the Trans Canada Trail go in British Columbia?

 
Our British Columbia route began at Elk Pass, on the Continental Divide, where we crossed from Alberta into the Elk Valley. From there, the trail descended through mountain landscapes, forest service roads, working valleys, mining regions, and communities such as Elkford, Sparwood, Fernie, and Elko.
 
From the Elk Valley, the TCT continued through the Rocky Mountain Trench toward the Chief Isadore Trail, Cranbrook, Kimberley, and the North Star Rails to Trails. These sections began to offer a stronger sense of continuity and accessible trail travel, especially compared with the road-heavy stretches of the Prairies.

 
The route then crossed Grey Creek Pass, descended toward Crawford Bay, used the ferry connection across Kootenay Lake, and continued through Nelson, Castlegar, and the Columbia and Western Rail Trail. This was one of the great rail-trail sections of the province, with long grades, tunnels, trestles, remote stretches, and a powerful sense of railway history.
 
From there, the TCT joined the Kettle Valley Rail Trail through places such as Christina Lake,
Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway, Rock Creek, Beaverdell, Myra Canyon, Chute Lake, Penticton, Summerland, Osprey Lake, and Princeton. This is one of British Columbia’s defining TCT corridors, but it is also one of the places where fire, flood, washouts, and reroutes most clearly affected the practical experience of crossing the province and the country as a whole.

 
With a complete break in the TCT – a section that has since been decommissioned – we walked roadways and highways amid terrifying forest fires to reach Hope and the continuation of the national pathway.
 
From Hope, the route followed the Fraser Valley toward Agassiz, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Fort Langley, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Vancouver, Stanley Park, North Vancouver, and Horseshoe Bay. This part of the province shifted the trail into river corridors, urban greenways, local pathways, parks, and routes through city neighbourhoods.

 
In Horseshoe Bay there is a long paddling section – the Salish Sea Marine Trail – that we had previously completed connecting the mainland to Nanaimo and Vancouver Island. 
 
On our coast-to-coast trek, however, a ferry carried the journey across to Vancouver Island. From Nanaimo, the route continued south through Ladysmith, Chemainus, Duncan, Lake Cowichan, Shawnigan Lake, Langford, and Victoria. The Cowichan Valley Trail, Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Trail, and Galloping Goose Trail served as the final portion of the walk toward Clover Point and the Pacific terminus of the Trans Canada Trail.
 

Are there road sections on the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia?

 
Yes. British Columbia has road sections, highway detours, forest service roads, active logging roads, urban street intersections, and reroutes caused by closures or damage. However, BC is also one of the provinces with some of the longest and most rewarding off-road trail corridors on the entire route.  In this regard, it is most comparable to the TCT in Eastern Ontario, or across Quebec, PEI, and Newfoundland.

In the eastern part of the province, the route includes forest service roads and working corridors through the Elk Valley. These roads are part of the experience. They can be scenic and manageable, but they may also have industrial traffic, recreational vehicles, loose surfaces, and fast-moving vehicles. In this part of BC, the TCT often passes through landscapes that are beautiful but which are actively used.
 
Further west, major rail-trail corridors such as the Columbia and Western and Kettle Valley reduce the amount of road walking dramatically. These sections provide wonderful long stretches of off-road travel, and they are among the reasons British Columbia stands out as a strong province for both hikers and cyclists. However, even these iconic trails are not always continuous in practice. Washouts, wildfire damage, decommissioned sections, industrial use, and maintenance issues can force users to adapt en route.

 
The Princeton-to-Hope area was a major example of this. Flooding, wildfire damage, and trail disruption meant that the route we hoped to follow was not available on the ground. In BC, more than almost anywhere else, it became clear that the mapped route and the usable route can diverge.  A lesson that we would be reminded of on several occasions throughout 2024 as we walked north to the Yukon.
 
The Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island also include road sections and urban connectors, but the character is different. There, the road walking is often part of moving through cities, neighbourhoods, along waterways, to and from ferry access points, over bridges, and developed trail networks rather than remote highway alternatives.

 
So yes, there are road sections on the TCT in British Columbia. But unlike some provinces where roads dominate the crossing, BC often balances them with extraordinary off-road corridors, rail trails and urban pathways. The challenge is that those corridors in BC can be interrupted by the scale and challenges of the landscape itself.

It should also be noted that this assessment is specifically about the southern TCT route in the province - the northern route to the Arctic is an entirely different matter, being almost entirely on the side of the Alaska Highway. 
 

Can you hike the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia?

 
Yes. British Columbia can be hiked across on the Trans Canada Trail, and it offers some of the finest and most consistent hiking and walking experiences of the entire national route. But there are definitely sections were it is not easy, and it should not be approached as a simple rail-trail stroll from the Rockies to the Pacific.

We hiked the southern east-west portion of the TCT through British Columbia from Elk Pass to Victoria, following the route through the mountains, Interior, Kootenays, Okanagan, Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island. This is the route used by those following the Atlantic-to-Pacific corridor. It does not include the northern British Columbia branch of the TCT that leads toward the Yukon and the Arctic.
 
For hikers, BC offers enormous possibilities with spectacular scenery. Mountain valleys, rivers, forests, trestles, tunnels, dry grasslands, coastal rainforest, and urban pathways all facilitate trekking along the TCT in this province. The long rail trails allow sustained movement off busy highways in a way that is rare in many other provinces. The Columbia and Western and Kettle Valley Rail Trails in particular, provide a sense of continuity that can feel like a gift after thousands of kilometres of roads and concessions across the prairies.

 
At the same time, BC requires humility. The province is mountainous, and even rail grades involve long distances, remote sections, exposure, changing weather, and the need to manage water and resupply. Forest service roads can be active and dusty. Some trail sections are steep, rough through passes. . Floods and wildfires can – and often do - alter the route suddenly. Winter approaches quickly in the mountains with elevations, and autumn conditions can shift from heat to rain to snow in a matter of days.
 

BC is therefore very hikeable and enjoyable to trek, but it demands flexibility. A hiker needs to check current conditions, expect reroutes, plan for gaps in services, understand ferry schedules, and accept that the route may change from what is shown on a map.
 
For us, British Columbia was the final province to the Pacific, and that gave every challenge extra weight. We were tired, it was late in the year, the weather was changing, and the ocean was finally within reach. That emotional buildup and mental pressure became part of the hike for us as well.
 

Can you cycle the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia?

 
Yes. British Columbia is one of the strongest provinces in Canada for cycling the Trans Canada Trail, especially when the route is intact and current conditions are favourable.
 
BC offers long, sustained off-road cycling corridors that are not matched in many of the prairie and western sections before it. The Chief Isadore Trail, North Star Rails to Trails, Columbia and Western Rail Trail, Kettle Valley Rail Trail, Fraser Valley pathways, Lower Mainland greenways, Cowichan Valley Trail, Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Trail, and Galloping Goose Trail all help make British Columbia one of the most rewarding provinces for cyclists on the TCT.

The appeal is obvious. These routes pass through mountain valleys, along rivers, over trestles, through tunnels, across historic rail grades, and into towns where services and bike support are more available than in many earlier provinces. In places, cycling the TCT in BC feels like what many people hope a national trail might be: long, scenic, off-road, and connected.
 
But British Columbia also asks cyclists to be realistic. The province is defined by terrain and disruption. Forest fires, flooding, washouts, logging, and construction can all change what is possible. Some rail-trail sections may be damaged or closed. Some detours may require road or highway riding alternatives. Some stretches, especially in active forestry or mountain terrain, require appropriate tires, mechanical skill, and comfort with rough surfaces.

The route west of Nelson includes a specialized dirt-bike section that is not well suited to touring bikes and was not particularly enjoyable on foot either – even though it was scenically beautiful. Grey Creek Pass is wide and passable, but it is still a long and sustained climb. The Kettle Valley may be famous, but fame does not guarantee perfect conditions. The Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island offer strong cycling infrastructure, but city navigation, traffic, ferry logistics, and local connectors still require attention.

 
So, can you cycle the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia? Yes, more clearly than in many provinces before it. But cycling BC’s TCT means accepting both the conditions of the moment you meet them along the national trail as well as the realities that might interrupt it. Where the route is intact, it can be extraordinary. Where it is damaged, adaptation is part of the journey.
 

How long does it take to cross British Columbia on the Trans Canada Trail?

 
It took us 49 trail days across 70 listed days in 2022 to hike the southeast-west portion of the Trans Canada Trail through British Columbia, not including a week-long period during which we left the trail and went home for a family matter. 
 
If we include our earlier 6-day paddle on the Salish Sea Marine Trail, which formed part of our wider Trans Canada Trail route through coastal British Columbia, then our BC total becomes 55 active TCT progress days across 76 total TCT days connected to the province.

Those numbers need context. British Columbia was the final province of our Atlantic-to-Pacific crossing, and we arrived there after an extremely long year that had already included other major walks across Europe as well as the completion of the TCT in both Quebec and Alberta. We were physically tired, working against the onset of winter, dealing with smoke and changing weather, and moving through a province where various factors affected our progress.
 
The southern BC route is approximately 1,684 km, but the experience is not defined by distance alone. A flat 30 km rail-trail day is not the same as a 30 km mountain or forest service road day. A day with ferries, reroutes, forest fires, snowstorms, or urban navigation may cover fewer kilometres but require more energy. BC is a province where topography and disruption matter as much as mileage.

 
As with every province, this number should not be treated as a fixed itinerary. Another hiker or cyclist could move faster or slower depending on the season, current trail conditions, weather, and route choices.  Given that each individual, each year, and each set of trail conditions will be different, the main challenges facing those who undertake this route will never be exactly the same. British Columbia is especially important in this regard because the trail is so vulnerable to landscape changes.
 

What are the best sections of the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia?

 
Always a challenging question to answer, given that each person can want and expect something different from their own experience.
 
The Elk Valley, because it gave us a dramatic introduction to British Columbia. Descending from Elk Pass into the valley brought snow-dusted peaks, forest service roads, working landscapes, bird migration, coal mines, logging, and the immediate sense that BC would be larger and more complicated than anything the map could suggest.

 
The Chief Isadore Trail and North Star Rails to Trails, because these sections offered continuity, accessibility, and a welcome sense of defined trail after the rugged forested landscapes of the Elk Valley. They helped show how strong BC’s trail network could be when local corridors were connected and maintained.
 
The Grey Creek Pass, because it was demanding, beautiful, and memorable. It was not easy, but it marked one of those places where elevation, effort, and landscape combined into a wonderful wilderness experience.
 
The Columbia and Western Rail Trail, because it was one of the most impressive rail-trail sections of the entire province. Easy grades, remote landscapes, long tunnels, shelters, railway history, and the feeling of travelling through old transportation corridors made it unforgettable.
 
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail, because it is one of the iconic sections of the Trans Canada Trail in BC. Even with disruptions, closures, reroutes, and damaged sections, the KVR remains central to the enjoyment and understanding the province’s segment of the TCT.

Myra Canyon amid the KVR, because it is one of the great trail and engineering experiences in Canada. The trestles, engineering history, mountain views, and sense of improbable passage along the canyon walls make it a section that deserves its reputation. 

The Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland, because the trail changed again there. Hope, Agassiz, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Fort Langley, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Vancouver, Stanley Park, North Vancouver, and Horseshoe Bay carried the TCT through river corridors, greenways, urban parks, neighbourhoods, and the final approach to the Pacific coast.
 
Vancouver Island, because it brought the journey into the coastal rainforest and toward the Pacific terminus. Beyond this the Cowichan Valley Trail, Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Trail, Galloping Goose Trail, and final trek into Victoria and the end of the Atlantic-to-Pacific crossing was also enjoyable.

 
Clover Point and Point Zero in Victoria, because after more than 14,000 km from the Atlantic, reaching the Pacific was not simply another trail marker. It was the closing of a line across the country and the beginning of understanding what that line had meant.
 

What are the toughest sections of the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia?

 
The toughest sections of British Columbia were not all difficult in the same way. BC’s challenges came from terrain, weather, forestry roads, trail damage, and distance.
 
The Elk Valley was challenging because it combined remote mountain landscapes with active working corridors. Forest service roads, logging traffic, coal mining, dust, industrial noise, and the sheer scale of the valley made the first days in BC both beautiful and a little unsettling.

 
The mountain passes and interior climbs were difficult because BC is not a flat province pretending to be a trail. Grey Creek Pass, long rail grades, exposed sections, and repeated ascents and descents required steady effort, especially after so many months and kilometres already walked.
 
The dirt-bike section west of Nelson was one of the most unpleasant and unsuitable sections we encountered. It was steep, deeply rutted, technical, and not designed for hikers or touring cyclists. It showed that a designated route can exist on a map while still being poorly matched to the needs of long-distance users.  We would never recommend that people hike this section – it is, like dirt bike parks in Manitoba a section best left to BMX bikes.

 
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail was tough because its reputation and reality did not always match. It includes extraordinary sections such as Myra Canyon, but it also includes damage, reroutes, fire scars, and places where users may be forced onto roads or highways. The route’s beauty did not erase its instability but it did make trekking from end to end complex.
 
To that end - the Princeton-to-Hope section of the KVR was particularly challenging because of broken trails and natural disasters. Floods, wildfires, and closures had reshaped the route, and the practical crossing required adaptation rather than simply following an expected line. The loss of the TCT here ultimately meant that we had to trek on the side of a busy highway as forest fires burned throughout the region.  Note - as of 2026, this stretch has been decommissioned as a trail and part of the TCT itself – creating a gap in the national pathway.

 
The Lower Mainland was difficult in a different way. It was more connected and service-rich, but also urban, busy, and expensive for accommodations.  After weeks of mountain and rail-trail travel, entering dense urban space required a different kind of attention – to cars and to our bank balance.
 
The Vancouver Island segments were stunning, but were emotionally difficult because we were so close. By then, every day carried the pressure of completion. The trail still had hills, weather, urban transitions, fatigue, and the strange mental challenge of knowing the Pacific was near but not yet reached.
 
Finally, British Columbia was tough because it came at the end of the Atlantic-to-Pacific crossing. We were not beginning fresh. We were carrying four years of trail, thousands of kilometres, and the heaped weight of everything that had happened since Cape Spear, Newfoundland.
 

What did British Columbia teach us about the Trans Canada Trail?

 
British Columbia taught us that the Trans Canada Trail can be extraordinary without being simple.
 
It showed us some of the best of the national pathway: long rail trails, mountain corridors, river valleys, and coastal forests. It also showed us that even the strongest trail infrastructure can be interrupted by wildfire, flooding, and landslides.  BC taught us that a trail is not only built once. It has to be maintained, repaired, rerouted, defended, and reimagined over time. A rail trail may look permanent, but a flood can remove it. A forest path may look timeless, but a wildfire can erase it. A route may be famous, but fame does not guarantee passability.

 
It also taught us the power of arrival. For years, walking from the Atlantic to the Pacific had been an idea. It was a distant endpoint somewhere beyond prairies, cities, mountains, and uncertainty. In British Columbia, that idea slowly became a possibility.
 
By the time we reached the Pacific terminus, British Columbia had become more than the final province of the east-west crossing. It was the place where the line across Canada finally connected. It reminded us that the Trans Canada Trail is not one continuous, perfect pathway. It is a living network of landscapes, communities, and human persistence.
 
And in the end, after 556 days and more than 14,000 km of hiking, British Columbia taught us that reaching the ocean mattered - but not more than everything it took to get there.

This overview is meant to help readers understand the shape of the Trans Canada Trail in British Columbia. For a fuller understanding of what the Trans Canada Trail is like in British Columbia:
 
Daily Blog Entries for Hike Across British Columbia on the Trans Canada Trail
 
Reflections on Hiking Across British Columbia on the Trans Canada Trail
 
Itinerary for Hiking Across British Columbia on the Trans Canada Trail
 
Cycling Considerations in British Columbia on the Trans Canada Trail
 
See you on the trail!