Sea to Tree Mini (Vancouver Island)
- Bob Dalton
- Nov 19
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 20
From June 30 to July 4th of 2025 I followed the Sea to Tree (mini) as defined by Miles Arbor on bikepacking.com. Many thanks to Miles for his work - I look forward to trying the full loop at some point in the future. Starting in Campbell River I spent 4 days on the Sea to Tree (mini) plus a day exploring the trails in Cumberland on my way home. My riding has been getting stronger and I felt physically great during this ride and am starting to realize that I can push my days longer especially during this time of year when the sunlight hours are extended. Day 3 was especially long but very enjoyable.
Here is a summary of my trip:
Day 1 - Campbell River to Buttle Lake (59 km, 600m climbing)
Drove from Burnaby to Campbell River
3 hours riding time (19.2 kph)
4.5 hours elapsed time (13.1 kph)
Day 2 - Buttle Lake to Hoomak Lake (130 km, 1,400m climbing)
7.25 hours riding time (17.8 kph)
9.5 hours elapsed time (13.7 kph)
Day 3 - Hoomak Lake to Memekay Horse Camp (140 km, 2,100m climbing)
8.5 hours riding time (16.4 kph)
12 hours elapsed time (13.7 kph)
Day 4 - Memekay to Campbell River (77 km, 1,100m climbing)
4.75 hours riding time (15.8 kph - climbs were steep!)
6.5 hours elapsed time (11.8 kph - I took some nice breaks)
I finished the trip with a day in Cumberland (link to that section of this report) and I am very glad I did! It was a great way to finish an awesome 5 day trip.
My Rig
I rode my Santa Cruz Stigmata configured as follows:
Single 38T front chainring with 10-52 cassette - The Stigmata standard 1X configuration has a 42T front chainring. I installed a Wolf-Tooth 38 and am really glad I did. There are some very steep climbs on this route.
50mm Maxxis Rambler tubeless tires. They were great, no issues.
Tailfin Rear Rack with Tailfin Rack Top Bag and two 10L Tailfin mini paniers
Tailfin 2.2L Top Tube Bag
Old Man Mountain Axle Pack rack mounts on the front forks holding two 10L Tailfin Mini Paniers
Apidura Expedition Handlebar Bag with 4L Backcountry Accessory Pocket added - this small bag was super handy.
I wore a small backpack (5L) for miscellaneous items.
Water: two 750ml water bottles on the seat tube and down tube. One 1L Nalgene strapped to the underside of the down tube - I was glad to have the extra water. I also carried my MSR Water Filter and used it a lot in lakes and creeks.
I carried bear spray and although I didn’t use it I was glad to have it. I did see bears on this trip.
Day 1 - Campbell River to Buttle Lake (59 km, 600m climbing)
I started today in Burnaby and drove to Campbell River via Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo and left my car in the parking lot of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship church which seemed like it would be a safe place. It was. I left a note on the dashboard with my whereabouts as is my practice - I also always leave the glove box open and the center console open as it shows there is nothing valuable in the car. That's my PSA for today.
I got going later than planned and got myself twisted around at the start because I asked Garmin to navigate to the start of the course - don't do that. It is much better to locate yourself using Google Maps or Ride By GPS and navigate yourself to the course at which point Garmin will find you! (My second PSA for the day.) As a result of my weak start and perhaps some general fatigue I felt very anxious today which made the day much less enjoyable sadly. The route is great and the gravel sections of road are excellent; I had no reason at all to be anxious but I got stuck in a mental loop that I never really got out of until I was settled at Rainbow Island Marine Campground.
The first half of the ride today was on gravel and was very quiet - I encountered 3 car and no trucks. The last 20-30km today was on the Gold River Highway which is a great surface and was enjoyable riding though there is some traffic of course and at points the shoulder is narrow. The route passes lots of lakefront so I really didn't need to be carrying as much water as I did today. I turned off to check out the Buttle Lake Provincial Park Campground and found it fully booked but after a bit of searching someone told me about the Rainbow Island Marine Park which is designed to be accessible only by small watercraft but when the lake level is low, as it was today, it is accessible on foot or bike. There are some nice camp spots on the island with wood platforms and bear caches.
I didn't eat a lot during today's short and easy ride. I was well fed when I started and during the ride I only ate one cliff bar and one Apple Fritter I picked up at a Tim's before I started. I will say I was hungry by the time I got around to dinner. I had a Peak Refuel Chicken Alfredo which was excellent.
Day 2 - Buttle Lake to Hoomak Lake (130 km, 1,400m climbing)
Today was a much better day mentally and physically! The first 40km today was on the Gold River Highway all the way to the Gold River turnoff at which point the route moves to gravel on Nimpkish Road all of which is very nice gravel with little to no vehicles. I considered stopping at the recreation sites near Woss - you can see on my Strava where I moved off route to get to theses sites. However I found them to be very busy with RVs and generators and the site is generally not very nice so I moved on!
Both Muchalaht Lake and Vernon Lake had great looking recreational campsites so if I do this again I would probably go all the way from Campbell River to Muchalaht or even Vernon if I were to get an early enough start.
I camped in a wilderness spot on the side of the trail along Hoomak Lake - at the base of a set of stairs up to the rest area on the Island Highway where there were nice restrooms. Had a full immersion plunge in the lake again today - water temp here and yesterday at Buttle was very comfortable, cold but not freezing. Legs felt good all day.
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Day 3 - Hoomak Lake to Memekay Horse Camp (140 km, 2,100m climbing)
Today was a big day! Almost the longest loaded ride I have done and by far the most climbing I have done in a day with the bike fully loaded. I felt strong all day, helped by overcast skies which kept the heat down and I took regular breaks for food and water. Today was all forest service roads and most of it was excellent gravel though be aware there are some challenging climbs - how could there not be with a day including 2,000 meters of climbing. I saw almost no one though I did see one bear and had to pull aside on one of the climbs to let a huge descending logging truck go by. I was a bit concerned about trucks given the signage indicating active logging but I only saw the one truck. I considered stopping at Seyward and then again at Seyward junction where I had one of my meals; I was feeling good and the weather was perfect so I pressed on. I had not planned to stop at the Memekay Horse Camp; in fact I'm not a fan of horses, hay and manure but when I entered through the gate and found the place deserted but inviting I decided to stay. Not to mention I had ridden over 8 hours and the sun was setting.
Memekey Horse Camp is a great spot, especially when you have it to yourself! It is without a doubt the best cared for site I have ever visited. The only person I saw there was an RCMP officer who I chatted with. He pays the site a daily visit around dusk and said it is usually busy but probably because I arrived right after a long weekend I got lucky. The only issue with the camp ground is a lack of fresh water near by other than the large tanks clearly marked "For Horses Only!".
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Day 4 - Memekay to Campbell River (77 km, 1,100m climbing)
Another beautiful day of bikepacking; almost all of it on very quiet gravel roads but don't be deceived by the shortness of the day, although only 1,100m of climbing there were some brutal sections especially climbing out of Elk Bay where the grade was over 20% and the surface loose - it was hot and I had to push my rig on a couple of sections. Other than those tough sections today was a beautiful day of riding.
Mcreight Lake as an easy ride from Memekay and would have been a good camping option. I didn't see many sites but I didn't have a close look either. The lake is beautiful. The roads were quiet again today and despite being in an active logging area I only encountered one large logging truck again.
The camping at Stella Lake looks great - there are a few sites at the south end of the lake that were occupied, but the bulk of the sites are on the north end and are the nicer sites so if I go back I will target those.
Camping at Elk Bay would be great as well though it is a popular area for obvious reasons. There were sites available however.
After arriving back in Campbell River and finding my car where I left it and untouched, I drove to Courtney and checked into the Coast Hotel before heading into Cumberland for dinner at the Cumberland Brewing Co - the food was great! I had a Caesar salad made with Arugula with a chicken breast and a side of patatas bravas - though that's not what they called that side dish.
Cumberland (60km, 1,500m of climbing just for fun)
I spent Friday July 4th exploring the trails in Cumberland and had a ball riding the mountain bike trails on my gravel bike. The Greens and Blues were find on the Stigmata with 50mm tires and the climbing trails are so much fun too - beautiful work. Congrats to all who have worked to turn Cumby into this marvelous cycling destination - I will be back! Here is my Strava entry for today.
