cellphone reception on these trails is good.

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The red line marks the boundaries of the Haskin Farm Trail and its branches. Double Click on the map above to enlarge.

To access the Haskin Farm Trail, drive along Heriot Bay Road to its intersection with Smith Road, which is near the Quadra Fire Hall and about five minutes’ drive from Quathiaski Cove. There at the intersection is the signpost for the Haskin Farm Trail, and parking space beside the road, as shown below.

From here the trail drops very gradually downhill through salal and fir forest and after about five minutes crosses a grassed-over logging road which is occasionally used for logging access. At this point if you go left along the logging road for 75 meters you will see a log section and some flagging tape tied to salmon-berry bushes where a trail goes off hard right, as shown below, at point N 50°, 03.202’, W 125°, 10.827’

This trail is actually another old logging road which you follow for a few minutes to the start of Todd’s Loop Trail. From the start of Todd’s Trail this same logging road curves sharply back around in a U and goes out towards Fir Road and crosses the Haskin Farm Trail again.

Todd’s Trail, as the picture below shows, is a short memorial walk, not maintained by the Trails Committee; it is a short, shady stroll through flat plantation firs which look to be about 30 years old. The trail is marked with blue flagging tape and orange tape too in places. This pleasant stroll is a loop taking about 20 minutes. Todd’s Loop Trail begins at N 50°, 03.244’, W 125°, 10.577’

 

Back on the Haskin Farm Trail, after walking it for the first ten minutes, to where it crosses the first grassed-over road (to Todd’s Trail), it crosses the grassed-over logging road then continues downhill for ten minutes before breaking out into an open meadow of about eight acres. There are still old apple trees which fruit annually surviving around the edge of this meadow, once the site of a farm, and then the site of hippie squatters during the early 1970s. In fact there is still one of the abandoned hippie cars sitting rusting its final days away. the old car is hidden on the northeastern corner of this clearing, almost completely covered in ferns and moss, and hidden from view by trees, but easy to walk to from the trail just seconds away. Here are the coordinates so you can find this old car relic if you have a GPS:   N 50.05281°,   W 125.17744°

The south end of the meadow is a swamp with a big chunk of bedrock protruding from it. The trail crosses this meadow and continues on downhill, intersecting another logging road which joins Fir Road. The trail crosses this logging road and continues gradually downhill.

A few minutes later the trail meets the sharp, forested drop-off to the beach and here it sidles around and gradually down the steep slope for ten minutes, ending at a secluded, beautiful spot on the ocean. From here you can walk south along the beach for 10 minutes to Wei Wai Kei Road and then walk north and uphill on this road to Smith Road. If you do this it will take you about 45 minutes to get back to your car from the ocean-end of the Haskin Trail.

Another way to access the Haskin Farm Trail is via Fir Road, off Smith Road. Drive to the north end of Fir Road and park there where the road ends. The connecting trail starts here and takes you after a few minutes’ walk to the Haskin Farm Trail, at a point about 10 minutes up from the beach. This Fir Road trail is another loop option for walking back to your car via the roads, rather than walking back via the trail.

Or, the shorter way, and equally as pleasant, is to simply walk back up the trail the way you came.

It is amazing that a trail such as this trail, close to residential areas, is also rugged wilderness where bears and wolves live.

The Fir Crest Trail

The Fir Crest trail is a new trail which begins at the beginning of Fir Crest Way beside the golf course, where there is parking on the right side near the start of Fir Crest Way, and from there the trail branches head north and east, skirting the golf course and skirting the new homes along Fir Crest Way, before turning south as they become one trail which follows along the top of the terrace above the ocean.  After five minutes or so along the terrace the trails ends where it intersects with the Haskin Farm Trail at the point where the Haskin trail drops steeply down to the beach. If you follow the Fir Crest Trail north a few hundred meters from this intersection you will see two massive old-growth firs side by side only a foot or so off the trail. These trees are roughly between 400 and 500 years old and were growing here long before any Europeans came sailing around Quadra. Nature has thrown everything she has at these two magnificent old trees and they have survived. They are well worth seeking out and standing beside for a few minutes.

From the intersection of Fir Crest Trail and Haskin Farm trail you can return to the road via Fir Drive, Smith Road, and Heriot Bay Road, or via the Haskin Farm Trail and Heriot Bay Road, or, return via the way you came to the Fir Crest Way parking area. During the walk along the Fir Crest Loop Trail where it follows the top of the terrace, you will pass the two old-growth firs mentioned above, standing side by side on the ocean-side of the trails. The larger of these two trees could be 600 years old.

Please stay on the trails for your own safety, unless you are equipped with a cellphone (check that you have reception, as many parts of Quadra do not have cell reception), and/or a personal locator beacon, AND you are very familiar with Quadra Island’s terrain and the particular area of Quadra that you are in. Otherwise, PLAY IT SAFE AND STICK TO THE TRAILS.

Here is a red-capped sap sucker, a type of woodpecker commonly seen on Quadra.

Hiking time from Haskin Farm Trail Heriot Bay Road car-park area to beach is about 25 minutes.

This page was updated on 24th March, 2022.