The astonishing variety of terrain - mountains, foothills, forests, lakes - in the Cumberland area makes it as much a natural for hiking as mountain biking. Welcome to hikers' heaven.
Easy Hiking Cumberland Forest
The immediate Cumberland Forest is an easy 3-hour, 10km/6.21mi hike. The trail leads through woods, to a view overlooking Cumberland and on through forest with 10 minutes on the Buggered Pig biking trail. This is also black bear territory. It's prudent to sport a bear bell. Otherwise, visitors find themselves hiking far faster than anticipated.
Chinatown Trail
The Chinatown Trail connects with Cumberland's mining history and the thousands of Chinese workers who toiled in the coal mines. The converted rail bed, now a multi-use trail, runs through what used to be one of the largest Chinatowns in North America, now a scenic marsh with abundant waterfowl.
Strathcona Provincial Park
Cumberland's proximity to Strathcona Provincial Park brings near-endless hiking possibilities. The oldest and largest provincial park on Vancouver Island offers a trekker's feast of at least 40 hiking trails. They range from day hikes to backpacking trips deep into the forests for weeks at a time. All lead to stunning beauty and adventure in an unspoiled, untrammelled wilderness.
Moderate to Difficult Hiking Della Falls
Strathcona's other stellar attraction is Della Falls, at 440m/1443ft high the highest falls in Canada, nearly eight times the height of Niagara, and one of the 10 highest falls in the world. The 16km/9.59mi trail from Great Central Lake across timber bridges and through old-growth forest takes seven hours.
Boston Ridge Trail
The circular, 5-hour, 13 km/8.07mi Boston Ridge Trail to Mount Becher above Comox Lake affords wonderful panoramic views.
Difficult Hiking Comox Glacier Trail
The great-great-great granddaddy of all hikes comes recommended only for seasoned hikers: the Comox Glacier Trail. The K'omox First Nation knew the glacier as Queneesh, the great white whale. It looms, flat-topped, over the Comox Valley like a headless giant. Hikers and mountaineers have been meeting its challenge since the first ascent of the Glacier in 1922. The three-day-long, 9k/5.6mi hike is not for the faint of foot. It calls for backpacking gear, maps, compass, ice axe, ropes and a stove. On the Trail, hikers should be on the lookout for bears and cougars. Prudent pilgrims pay heed to the Bear and Cougar Safety Guides.
Kookjai Trail An alternate route, the Kookjai Trail, was cleared by the Comox District Mountaineering Club in 2003. The route takes longer, but circumvents the toughest climbing areas and renders the glacier and its lakes, alpine meadows, bogs and snow fields more accessible to hikers.