Parksville to Qualicum Beach Loop

Parksville/Qualicum Beach, BC

The Trip

The first route below shows a loop around Parksville, a link between the two cities, and a loop around Qualicum Beach.  The link portion is the only way that I know of to get from one city to the other that avoids the Island Highway and its associated vehicle traffic.  It is only passable by bicycle (or on foot if you're into long walks). 

The Parksville loop is an easy-to-do route which we often do when we don't have time for a longer trip.  The Qualicum loop is a great trip to do with friends and a lunch after, but we expand it as you can see on the Qualicum page.

The 31km route incorporates some bike paths, but is primarily on low traffic city streets.

The second route is 4km shorter and leaves out the part of the Parksville loop which is along the Rathtrevor beach and the waterfront districts north of there. 

Both routes include a stop for lunch at the Qualicum Airport's "Final Approach" restaurant, which serves great food and has a pleasant patio overlooking the airport's landing strip.

Our favourite part of the trip is the bike path along Fern Road which was built to provide bicycle and walking access to downtown Qualicum.

Map - Full Route

The map below is a Google "My Maps" embedded document and you can double click on it and expand it to see it better on either your computer or smart phone.  If you'd like to download the actual GPS data to use instead, click on this link: Parksville to Qualicum Beach Loop.

To start this route, park behind Quality Foods on Pioneer Crescent near Bagshaw Street.  The GPS coordinates are:

• 49° 19' 13.83" N
• 124° 18' 14.66" W  

Elevation Profile

Map - Alternate Route

If you'd like to try this trip but would like something a little shorter, this is a good alternative.  It's 27 km instead of 31.  It has the same elevation profile from about 2 to 29 in the graph above.

Both of these routes include taking the link between the two cities, shown at right on Lee Road.

The starting point for this route is at a small corner park on Despard Ave. and Chestnut St. in Parksville.  You can park on the short stub street along side the park.