Tough wilderness routes, moderate riverside strolls and easy, wheelchair-accessible pathways into Cape Scott Provincial Park are all great hiking options in the Port Hardy area. In town, join residents and their dogs while walking the lovely seawall beginning in Carrot Park.
Cape Scott and North Coast Trail
Cape Scott's magnificent beaches are pounded to golden sand by the Pacific. Various trails offer all levels of daytrip ease and/or multi-day challenge. Hikers can get here by shuttle bus or water taxi services based in Port Hardy. The trailhead to the Cape Scott Trail is in the San Josef Bay parking lot (reached via the unpaved Holberg Road, 60km/37mi west of town). Those seeking an easy 45-minute leg stretch can follow the wheelchair-accessible trail out to San Josef's spectacular beach. The Cape Scott Trail itself veers off from this main path and follows a muddier, more challenging route on an eight-hour trek to the cape. From here the path links up with the North Coast Trail – a supremely peaceful coastal and forest walk that follows a path blazed by Danish settlers in the late 19th Century. Water taxi drop-offs at Shushartie Bay let hikers trace the route back to San Josef Bay. The volunteer North Vancouver Island Trail Society intends to eventually extend the route as far as Port Hardy.
Provincial Parks
Marble River Provincial Park's 4.2km/2.6mi of hiking and mountain biking trails are a good way to explore this wilderness park east of town at the Port Alice turnoff from Highway 19. Salmon-spawning viewing stations can be found along the route, which includes a waterfall at Bear Falls and takes about three hours as a round-trip outing. Raft Cove Provincial Park, off the Holberg Road before reaching Cape Scott, a scenic access point to the island's stormy west coast. At the mouth of the Macjack River, this rustic park features a sometimes challenging 2km/0.8mi trail through a cedar and spruce forest to a crescent beach ideal for wilderness camping expeditions.
Tex Lyon Trail at Storey's Beach
Get set for plenty of uphill climbs and downward scrambles on Tex Lyon Trail, which was once the prime link between Hardy Bay and Fort Rupert. The first 20 minutes of this four-hour (minimum) outing are spent on gentle beach sand, but thereafter it is a stiff test for the most seasoned of hikers.
Quatse River Trail
A 10-minute stroll from Fisherman's Wharf (next to the Quarterdeck Resort on Hardy Bay Road) along the Harbourfront Walkway takes one to the mouth of the Quatse River. Here, the Quatse River Trail, a 45-minute forested route follows the river, passes by the Quatse Salmon Hatchery, and loops back to Hardy Bay. Strike off to the east on a brief stroll to a bird-viewing platform overlooking the river estuary. Check with the Port Hardy Visitor Centre for more information about hiking trails in the area and maps.