The first community you will encounter as you drive the excellent
paved road, is Sayward, in the fertile
Sayward valley. The original settlement and the MacMillan Bloedel
'company town' have melded over the years. Not far from Sayward
is Schoen Lake Park and awesome Mount Cain,
a focus for skiing in winter, camping and hiking in summer.
Northward through more than 60km
of uninhabited panoramic beauty and vistas of snow-capped mountains
and tree-bordered lakes, the visitor will see the turn-off for
Woss (Kwakwala for 'river flowing through flat ground'),
a logging settlement where you can stop for a coffee and snack.
Just beyond Woss, a road snakes west to Zeballos,
once a booming gold mining town, now a tourist destination with
access to the open Pacific.
Port McNeill
comes next. From here, visitors can take a ferry to the First
Nations fishing village of Alert Bay
on Cormorant Island and the Finnish settlement of Sointula
on Malcolm Island. Both destinations offer a unique cultural experience.
Between Port McNeill and Port Hardy, a winding road takes you
to Port Alice on Neroutsos Inlet which leads to
the open west coast. Nearby Seven Hills Golf Club's gorgeous scenery
presents distractions which could be termed 'hazards'.
Near Port Hardy may also be found
Coal Harbour, a former whaling centre founded
in the early 1900s. The road leading west to Holberg
and Winter Harbour branches from the
highway just before the entrance to Port Hardy. Beyond Holberg
is the internationally acclaimed wilderness trail which winds
through Cape Scott Provincial Park. Currently being developed
is an extension of this trail which will lead from Cape Scott
to the lighthouse.
