Courtenay Things To Do
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 Blessed with ocean, forests, farmlands and mountains, Courtenay offers a fat portfolio of things to do. At the top of the list are hiking, mountain biking, golf, heritage touring, visiting farms and vineyards, exploring an amazing and unique garden and fossil-hunting for 80-million-year-old souvenirs. Yep, 80-million-year-old souvenirs.
Land Activities
HikingAll trails lead to stunning beauty and adventure in an unspoiled, untrammelled wilderness. The great-great-great granddaddy of all hikes is the Comox Glacier Trail in Strathcona Provincial Park.
Comox Glacier TrailNot for the faint of foot, the three-day-long hike calls for backpacking gear, maps, compass, ice axe, ropes and a stove. An alternate route, the Kookjai Trail, takes longer, but circumvents the toughest climbing areas and renders the glacier and its lakes, alpine meadows and snowfields more accessible to hikers.
Della FallsStrathcona's other stellar attraction is Della Falls. At 440m/1443ft high, these are the highest falls in Canada, nearly eight times the height of Niagara, and one of the 10 highest falls in the world. The trail from Great Central Lake across timber bridges and through old-growth forest takes 7 hours.
Mountain BikingFrom ocean to meadow to forest to mountain, the Comox Valley offers five distinct areas of mountain biking trails for all levels of riders. Year-round trails near Comox Lake and along the Puntledge River represent some of the most varied and rewarding biking trails in BC. Nine different trails start out at the dam on Comox Lake. Stunning scenery, wildlife and unpredictability enthral bikers.
GolfThe varied landscape of the Comox Valley provides picture-postcard backdrops for nine golf courses in and around the Comox Valley. Six courses are year-round. All boast stunning mountain views and golf packages are available through hotels, motels and resort.
Crown Isle Resort & Golf Community The big guy of golf courses is the Crown Isle Resort & Golf Community, marrying award-winning, Platinum-rated, championship course and golf community. Marvellous views of the Beaufort mountains, 11 lakes and eye-filling fairways complete a vision of Vancouver Island golf at its most sumptuous.
Arts, Cultural & Historical ExperiencesThe Comox Valley and Courtenay Visitor Centres publish two free, detailed Heritage Experience walking tour brochures, the Downtown Courtenay Heritage Walk and the Courtenay Riverway Heritage Walk. The self-guided walks take about one hour and span history, culture, urban charm and Courtenay's graceful lifestyle.
Food & Wine
Farms, Wineries & Vineyards Astride land and sea, the Comox Valley harvests magnificent bounties. Almost 500 farms represent orchards, nurseries and vegetable, and dairy produce. The Comox Valley Growers Guide available at the Comox Valley Visitor Centre, maps out three driving tours covering the entire Comox Valley.
Beaufort WineryThe surprise is Courtenay wineries. The Beaufort Winery won Gold in 2009's All Canadian Wine Championships for Panacea, a splendid blend of three Island grape varieties. Its Gewurztraminers, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cassis, a heady blackberry dessert wine, are not to be missed, either.
The Blue Moon Winery at Nature's Way Farm produces lively, crisp fruit wines made in small batches. The idea is to treat them as alternatives to conventional grape-based table wines - drop in and taste.
Natural Sights, Parks & Wildlife
Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens Unique among BC gardens, this one-man labour of love never fails to impress beyond all expectations. The Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens are a stunning marriage of woodland garden, rhododendron garden, a lake, ponds and a rainforest. Mulch paths lead guests from one surprise to the next. Sunlight filters through 100 varieties of trees, beckoning artists and photographers. The Gardens also play host to two three-day-long arts festivals every year.
Fossil HuntingOnce upon a time 80 million years ago, the Courtenay and Puntledge River areas teemed with prehistoric marine life, especially aquatic predators worthy of Hollywood. The Courtenay & District Museum & Palaeontology Centre offers fossil-hunting tours and even guarantees participants will take home 80-million-year-old souvenirs. When a split stone reveals a fossilized baby lobster, shrieks of triumph follow.
Spas & WellnessCourtenay spas set the bar for the Comox Valley in a flurry of healing oils, exotic massages, algae wraps and mystery elixirs. Kingfisher Oceanside Resort & Spa scores heavily with its first-in-Canada Pacific Mist Hydropath experience. Imagine, a spa fantasia of sandstone caves and pools, indoor rainfalls, glacial waterfalls and tidal baths. At the all-suites Old House Village Hotel & Spa in downtown Courtenay, Oh Spa! is an urban retreat with innovative treatments, couples rooms with big TVs and spa cuisine.
For more information on things to do in Courtenay, head to the Visitor Centre.
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