Road trip

Route 7 · West: Coombs, Cathedral Grove & Port Alberni

Driving: ≈ 300 km return, 2 h each way
Day: Leave by 8 am
Terrain: Highway 19 and the Highway 4 mountain road
Season: Any; check DriveBC in winter

Schematic map of the route with numbered stops — Open this route in Google Maps ↗Schematic map; numbered stops match the list below. The link gives turn-by-turn directions.

The longest route in this book and the only one that crosses the Island's spine. Goats on a roof, a canyon waterfall, 800-year-old Douglas firs and a sawmill town at the head of a 40 km inlet. Fill the tank in Nanaimo.

Coombs Old Country Market — The famous goats graze the sod roof from spring to fall. Underneath: an import grocery, bakery, deli, and a village of quirky shops. Good coffee stop.
Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park — A 1 km loop past upper and lower falls in a narrow canyon. Easy, with stairs.
Cathedral Grove (MacMillan Provincial Park) — Two short loops under Douglas firs up to 9 m around and 800 years old, the most impressive old-growth you can reach from a highway. Parking is on the shoulder and fills by mid-morning in summer.
Port Alberni — Lunch at Harbour Quay. The Maritime Discovery Centre (shipwrecks and the 1964 tsunami, in a lighthouse-style building, Fri–Sun or Thu–Sun in season), the Alberni Valley Museum (Tue–Sat 11–4, strong Nuu-chah-nulth collection) and self-guided heritage walks through Old Alberni and the Southport district.
McLean Mill National Historic Site — A 1926 steam sawmill and camp, one of the last intact in Canada. In the off-season it is dawn-to-dusk and self-guided, with some areas fenced; treat it as a 30-minute atmospheric add-on.

Dinner on the way home in Qualicum Beach or Nanaimo. The return over Highway 4 is dark and winding after sunset; aim to be back on Highway 19 before dusk in winter.