Campbell river to Zebellos

[bones]

Just booked 4 days at Flynn cove, esperenza inlet. Wonder which is the faster or better drive. Zebellos or Tahsis to launch boat?

 

[Whole in the Water]

IMHO the road to Tahsis is better and less steep and less road distance - but means more boat travel distance.

 

[bigbruce]

Zeballos has 42 kms of gravel vs 64 to Tahsis. Overall driving distance is 152 kms CR - Tahsis vs 192 Cr - Zeballos. I've driven it both ways and I don't remember any big hills on the Zeballos road - there is a big hill going into Tahsls. Either road can be good if recently graded. If dry - make sure you cover any engine intakes. If wet, be prepared for a lot of mud on your hull. You might also consider putting in at Gold River and running up. It's about an hour and a half run from Gold River to the Esperanza fuel dock (CPC).

 

[Whole in the Water]

I think I confused Tahsis with Zeballos re. the steep hills.

 

[crazycanuck]

You confused me Dan... you pulling your boat outta tahsis this winter?

 

[Pippen]

Did the drive into Fair Harbour which goes through Zeballos....and there are a number of decent climbs/descents if memory serves me correct. A lot more tight spots and not the width of road that I recall going towards Tahsis. Depending on the size of your boat/trailer it could be tight in a lot of spots going into Zeballos if meeting with logging trucks.

Have only driven as far as Cougar Creek en route to Tahsis but if the road continues like it does to that point, I think I'd be more apt to drive to Tahsis.


I usually fly in when going to Kyuquot so have only driven the road to Zeballos once en route to Fair Harbour. Drop finaddict a line as he tows his boat in to Fair Harbour every summer.

 

[bones]

Negative crazy I pullin in a 22' tin this year with the neighbor and was told zebellos was faster. According to the cabin owner. I look on the map and its further up island and the logging road looks basically the same.

Thank you for the replies.

 

[iggyb]

Ok here's the breakdown on both roads. Without boat in tow, from Campbell River the drive to Zeballos is just over 2 hrs while the drive to Tahsis is almost 3 hrs. The 40 km to Zeballos is completely gravel until you hit town, there are 3 or 4 notable hills, the worse being at 29km and it's not really a brake burner just sometimes a bit bumpy due to the nature of the original road base. I drove it last Tuesday and it was in pretty good shape, it is regularly maintained. The 62km road to Tahsis from Gold River is a mix of pavement and gravel-maybe 65% gravel and has a few more steeper hills w one major hill w switchbacks which can be a bit of a brake burner and a few other less notable hills. The road to Tahsis, sees more steady maintenance. Were I to choose, I would probably launch at Gold River and go from there but then I don't like towing my boat on gravel. That said, either road is good enough, Zeballos shorter and a few more bumps, while Tahsis is a bit longer but smoother and one or two significantly steeper hills. Hope that helps.

 

[robertg]

Bones, I agree with iggyb launch at Gold River, early morning run down the inlet to Nootka,if the water is flat outside take the outside past Bajo reef and up to ferrer point and then into Esperenza, if the outside is lumpy go up the inside to Tahsis. Your boat and trailer will much better off and cleaner. We usually plan on spending the night at Friendly Cove and then fish around the cove for a few hours the next morning, and then we decide on the route depending on water conditions

 

[Alley Oop]

I've done the drive from Campbell River to Zeballos at least 10 times. Truck with camper towing a 16.5 ft boat takes at least 4 1/2 hours of driving at/or close to the speed limit.

 

[krm240]

Planning a trip to gold river in spring. Is there a place to leave truck and trailer?

 

[bigdogeh]

The natives have a compound at the boat launch at the head of the inlet. and there is also a storage facility in gold river. i parked at the compound last year for a couple different 6 day trips and there were no issues. there are a few posts in the forum here that are probably a bit more informative. maybe do a search, gold river boatlaunch parking.

found this.

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum...-the-Gold-River-ramp&highlight=native+parking