Canada (British Columbia)
Gold River (Vancouver Island)
There's not a lot happening at GOLD RIVER, a tiny logging community 89km west of Campbell River – founded in 1965 in the middle of nowhere to service a big pulp mill 12km away at Muchalat Inlet. The place only has a handful of hotels and a couple of shops – but the ride over on Hwy 28 is superb, and there's the chance to explore the sublime coastline by boat, the main reason for the settlement's increasing number of visitors. Year-round, the MV Uchuck III, a converted World War II US minesweeper, takes mail, cargo and passengers to logging camps and settlements up and down the surrounding coast on a variety of routes. Like the MV Lady Rose out of Port Alberni, what started as a sideline has recently become far more of a commercial enterprise, with glossy pamphlets and extra summer sailings, though it's none the worse for that – you just have to book ahead to make sure of a place. For information and reservations, contact Nootka Sound Service Ltd (tel 283-2325 or 283-2515).

There are three basic routes, all of them offering wonderful windows onto the wilderness and wildlife (whales, bears, bald eagles and more) of the region's inlets, islands and forested mountains. The dock is at the end of Hwy 28, about 15km southwest of Gold River. The Tahsis Day Trip ($45) departs at 9am every Tuesday year-round for Tahsis (arriving at 1pm), returning after a one-hour stopover to Gold River at 6pm. The shorter Nootka Sound Day Trip ($40) leaves Gold River every Wednesday at 10am July to mid-September only (returning at 4.30pm), with longer stops at Resolution Sound and Kyuquot (the native word for "Friendly Cove"), the latter involving a $9 landing fee, proceeds from which go to the Mowachaht Band for the redevelopment of the aboriginal site. During the ninety-minute halt you are offered a guided tour by aboriginal guides around their ancestral home. The previous stop, at Friendly Cove, is equally historic, for it was here that Captain Cook made his first-known landing on the west coast in 1778, from which, among other things, was to spring the important sea-otter fur trade. Whites named the area and people here "Nootka", though locals today say nootka was merely a word of warning to Cook and his crew, meaning "circle around" to avoid hitting offshore rocks.

 
 If you're equipped with provisions and wish to stay over, there are cabins and a campsite here, but call first to confirm arrangements (tel 283-2054). The third trip, the Kyuquot Adventure ($195 single, $310 double), is a two-day overnight cruise, departing every Thursday year-round (April–Oct 7am; Nov–March 6am). It takes you much further north up the coast, returning to Gold River at 4 or 5pm on Friday afternoon: accommodation is included, as is breakfast – though you make it yourself from food supplied – and you can buy Thursday's evening meal on board or onshore at Kyuquot. A 25 percent deposit is required for these trips, refundable in full up until two weeks before departure. People on all trips should bring warm and waterproof clothing. There's a coffee shop on board for drinks and hot snacks. Kayakers should note that they can be deposited by lift into the sea at most points en route by prior arrangement.

Boat aside, one of the area's two minor attractions is Quatsino Cave, the deepest vertical cave in North America, parts of which are open to the public – for details ask at the infocentre; the other is the Big Drop, a stretch of Gold River white water known to kayakers worldwide. The local infocentre is at the corner of Hwy 28 and Scout Lake Rd (mid-May to mid-Sept; tel 283-2418, goldriv@island.net). Accommodation is in short supply: the only large place is the Ridgeview Motel, located in a panoramic spot above the village at 395 Donner Court (tel 283-2277 or 1-800/989-3393, theridge@oberon.ark.com; $60–80) – but the Peppercorn Trail Motel and Campground on Mill Road (tel 283-2443, peppercorn@island.net; $40–60) also has ten rooms, as well as a campsite ($15–18).

Note that there are also two beautiful roads north from Gold River, both rough, but worth the jolts for the scenery. One provides an alternative approach to TAHSIS, another logging community 70km northwest of Gold River, which has one motel with a restaurant if you need to break your journey: advance summer reservations are needed at the Tahsis Motel, Head Bay Road (tel 934-6318, tahsmot@cancom.net; $60–80): or try Fern's Place B&B, 379 N Maquinna (tel 934-7851, bganyo@cancom.net; $60–80). For more background on a lovely part of the coast, with plenty of fishing, boating and hiking opportunities, contact the infocentre, a booth on Rugged Mountain Road (late June to early Sept Mon–Sat 10am–4.30pm; tel 934-6667) or the Village Office (Mon–Fri 9am–noon & 1–5pm; tel 934-6622).