The Sunshine Coast Trail (SCT) was conceived in 1992 when a handful of outdoor enthusiasts realized the amount of accessible old growth on the Upper Sunshine Coast was vanishing. They formed the Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society (now known as PRPAWS), a registered non-profit charitable society, to set aside protected areas linked by forested trail corridors. The SCT is a 180-kilometre back country hiking experience that stretches from Sarah Point in Desolation Sound to Saltery Bay. It traverses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal shorelines, along creeks and lakes, through old growth forests to panoramic mountaintops. It provides hikers with the opportunity to experience Powell River’s breathtaking back country with its rich fauna and flora.
Attracting hikers from around the world, this hiking trail now boasts 14 huts with one more planned next year, making it Canada’s Longest Hut-To-Hut Hiking Trail – and the only free one. It has continually been under attack to log, and negotiations have been long and exhaustive. Its another example of conflicting objectives with logging legally taking precedent.
