Current Status of the VI Trail
A VITA volunteer – Alan Philip of Cowichan – has recently completed (July, 2017) the compilation of a series of 7 topographic maps that cover the entire Trail from Victoria to Cape Scott.
As you will see in the map legends, the maps indicate completed trail sections in green, sections of the route using roads in yellow, proposed/projected sections of trail in olive green, and sections over water in blue. The maps also show roads that access the Trail (including gated roads) and campsites.
The VI Trail is currently more than 83% complete. Detailed planning of the remaining 17% is now proceeding following completion of a memorandum of understanding that reflects the co-operative working relationship between VITA and Mosaic Forest Management, the timberland manager for both TimberWest and Island Timberlands.
The 7 mapsheets (zoom in and out as you wish – there is lots of detail), which can be downloaded as pdf’s, are as follows:
Victoria to Lake Cowichan
Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni
Port Alberni to Cumberland
Cumberland to Strathcona Dam
Strathcona Dam to Woss
Woss to Port McNeill
Port McNeill to Cape Scott
Sections of the VI Trail
Click the links below for section descriptions and current status of various sections of the VI Trail, to download GPS tracks, and to view the GPS tracks. Of the available map options, the OCM-Landscape map is probably the most useful (it includes contours – quite detailed if you zoom in).
For more detail, take a look at the Guidebook and check out the Blog for recent updates.
To view the Trail on a satellite image:
Left click on Story Map Format (or right click & select “Open link in a new tab”)
You can then choose either a topographic base-map or a satellite image base using the ‘Basemap’ tab (the other available options are not very useful). You can then pan around the image and zoom in and out as desired.
The 7 trail sections (various colors) correspond to the 7 sections available as downloadable topographic maps earlier on this page (the red download buttons).