VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 263

spawning in Black Creek each fall. The park's Miracle Beach Nature House (10am-5pm
daily in summer, free) has interesting natural history displays as well as a shop selling gifts
and books, and is the focus point for an interpretive program that includes walks and talks.
Salmon Point
A short drive north of Miracle Beach and 18 kilometers (11.2 miles) south of Campbell
River is Salmon Point Resort (2176 Salmon Point Rd., 250/923-6605 or 866/246-6605,
www.salmonpoint.com , campsites $32-42, cabins $135-225 s or d), also offering great
views across the Strait of Georgia to the snowcapped peaks of the Coast Mountains. Facil-
ities are excellent: you'll find an outdoor swimming pool, including a restaurant overlook-
ing the water, a couple of recreation rooms (one for adults only), fishing guide service and
tackle, boat rentals ($140 per day), a heated pool, heated bathrooms, and a laundry room.
Northern Vancouver Island
The northern section of Vancouver Island is mountainous, heavily treed, dotted with lakes,
riddled with rivers and waterfalls, and almost completely unsettled. Just one main highway
serves the region, although hundreds of kilometers of logging roads penetrate the dense
forests. The gateway to the north is Campbell River, another small city that proudly calls
itself the “Salmon Capital of the World.” From this point north, the Island Highway fol-
lows a winding route over mountains and through valleys, first hitting the coast near Tele-
graph Cove, one of Canada's most photogenic communities and the departure point for
orca-watching trips to the nutrient-rich waters of Johnstone Strait and Robson Bight. The
island's northernmost town is Port Hardy, terminus for ferries heading north to Prince Ru-
pert and the gateway to the wild West Coast and Cape Scott Provincial Park.
CAMPBELL RIVER
A gateway to the wilderness of northern Vancouver Island, this city of 32,000 stretches
along Discovery Passage 260 kilometers (162 miles) north of Victoria and 235 kilometers
(146 miles) southeast of Port Hardy. Views from town—of tree-covered Quadra Island
and the magnificent white-topped mountains of mainland British Columbia—are superb,
but most visitors come for the salmon fishing. The underwater topography creates prime
angling conditions; the Strait of Georgia ends just south of Campbell River, where Dis-
covery Passage begins. The waterway suddenly narrows to a width of only two kilometers
(1.2 miles) between Vancouver and Quadra Islands, causing some of the strongest tides on