Beginner's Loop

Our friend Jeanne came back to visit us in Powell River. On her last trip, she had her first quad ride on a forest service road. Today we decided to introduce her to an easy trail close to town. We parked near Edgehill School at the head of Abbotsford Street. From there, we took the Edgehill Trail system through large stands of trees with an understory as beautiful as any in the area.

This handy launching point can be used to reach any area east and south of town. Even though it's an easy trail, there are a few challenging spots for the novice rider. The first is a hill with some turns and rocky patches, but Jeanne put her quad into 4X4 and crawled up like a champ. Our speed wasn't fast, but that gave us time to thoroughly enjoy our surroundings. We rode the rest of the trail and a short logging road to the entrance of the Washout Trail.

It's been raining lately, so the Washout Trail was dotted with big puddles. In places, the Wednesday Trail Building Group has created bypasses on drier soil to prevent damage to the area. Their hard work was just highlighted in this month's Rider's West Magazine. Thanks everyone for making our backcountry more accessible.

At the well marked junction we turned up the Blue Trail. This trail has also been the location of work by the dedicated ATV group. Jeanne is standing by one of the two new bridges they built last fall with a combination of volunteer workers, donated supplies and a $3000 grant from ATV/BC. But it's not just a quad trail. The Blue Trail is a multi-use for hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders as well. It's also an interpretive trail used to teach the youth of Powell River about their forest environment. Once back on the Duck Lake Forest Road, we backtracked to our parking spot and ended a wonderful day in the bush.

Do you want to explore the great outdoors in Powell River? Would you like a book full of maps like this one? There's a great map book written by Dave, the president of the Powell River ATV Club. It’s called the ATV Trail Guide and costs $25. If want a copy, you can contact Dave through the ATV/BC website. The guides are also available in Powell River at Quality Parts, Guy's Cycle Works and the Edgehill Store. All profits support trail maintenance and building activities. -- Margy