I spent the past few days on Galiano Island for a small family vacation. I had heard there was some decent XC riding on the island so I brought my Anthem X to get a couple of rides in. This website has some decent maps of the southern part of the island that I brought with me.
My first ride was a pedal from our B&B to the Sturdies Bay Trail. This trail follows right beside the road as you come out of the ferry terminal.
From the end of the Sturdies Bay Trail I headed up to Bluff Park and over to Mt. Galiano. The trails were a mixture of single track and double track and it was all flowy and smooth. The views from the Bluffs and from the top of Mt. Galiano were awesome, time it right and you can see the ferries coming through Active Pass.
None of the photos I have are during my XC rides but I did some hikes in the same areas.
The second ride that I did was along Bodega Ridge. This was a very cool ride. The entire ride was a ribbon of single track that followed the edge of Bodega Ridge. The views were incredible.
There was very little climbing as the road leading to the trail head took you to close to the height of the ridge. The single track ended on private property and what looked like miles of old double track logging roads. I wish I had more time to explore. To get back to your car simply turn around and follow the same route.
In the summer months I would imagine that
Bodega Ridge would have a lot of hikers on it. This could get quite frustrating as the trail is very narrow. This would definitely be an early morning ride depending on the time of year.
I am sure that there are many more trails that are rideable on the island. Apparently there is a guy that works at the Bodega Resort that also rides and may be able to point you in the right direction. There is also a bike rental company that can be found in the brochure on the ferry. She got me started in the right direction.
I wouldn't necessarily head over to Galiano just for the riding, but if you are going for a vacation then definitely bring your XC bike.
