The Trans Canada Highway is indeed Highway #1 linking the entire country from east to west.

The Trans Canada Trail, when completed (if ever) will be the longest non-motorized trail in the world. I can only speak of the BC part of the trail since I've bicycled a very large part of it.

The part from Castlegar to Brookmere is perfectly passable on just about any bike with moderately wide tires. So a hybrid should be fine. Since it's pretty much all on abandoned rail grades, the inclines are pretty gentle. There are soft spots and a bit of sand coming down into Penticton from Myra Canyon above Kelowna. It's officially supposed to be for non-motorized traffic but you will probably encounter the occasional self-centred yahoo on dirt bikes or quads, even though there are hundreds of kilometres of other roads, trails and tracks they could be using.

From Brookmere to the Othello Tunnels the trail is much less develloped and can involve some tricky crossings. I've done both the trail without a load and came down the thrill ride that is the Coquihalla highway while fully loaded. Make sure you take the Othello Tunnels exit and rejoin the rail trail through some stupendous tunnels crossing a few river ravines, taking you the back way into Hope.

From Hope to Chilliwack the trail is a rough abandoned logging road and I have no first hand experience of it. My understanding is it's not for the weak and faint of heart. After Chilliwack the Trans Canada Trail is a mix of country roads/lanes, trails, dyke roads, locally marked quiet roads through the various towns and cities.

It then crosses over to Nanaimo from Horseshoe Bay Northwest of Vancouver. The Nanaimo area has a few km's of completed separate trail and designated routes on roads. From Duncan the trail is a well maintained former rail grade going west to Cowichan lake. From there it doubles back on a rather poorly maintained, yet quite passable former rail grade .... be prepared for trespassing dirt bikes in this area. It doubles back to just below Duncan and then heads south to the southern end of Shawnigan Lake. The section from Shawnigan lake to Langford (a suburb of Victoria) has yet to be built. So you'll be on the Trans Canada highway at that point You can pick up the Galloping Goose trail in Langford, which is part of the Trans Canada Trail and which will take you right to Downtown Victoria and to the Trans Canada Trail terminus.


...Michelle
www.scrabblebiker.com