Things to Do on Haida Gwaii: Our 4-day Itinerary
In mid-May, I traveled with Korri’s family to Haida Gwaii, a beautiful archipelago located far to the northwest of Vancouver Island, close to Alaska. Korri’s family has ties to Haida Gwaii back to the early 1900s; his great-great-grandfather built a house in Sandspit that is still standing to this day—and we stayed in it!
The trip was focused on family; Korri’s grandma met up with two of her cousins while we were there (they grew up going to the house in Sandspit), and we spent a lot of time with them and other extended family (including Korri’s third cousins!). One of her cousins lives in Sandspit, and the other lives near Vancouver.
Whether you visit Haida Gwaii to hang out with family or just for fun (or both!), there are so many things that you can do during your time on the islands. Below, I rounded up eight things you can do on Haida Gwaii, and I also shared our detailed, 4-day/5-night itinerary. The itinerary is long and may or may not be helpful for you. I threw in a few good-to-know tips that we learned during our time there, so hopefully those are at least helpful!
READ NEXT: Places to Stay in Haida Gwaii
Things to Do on Haida Gwaii
If you are the outdoorsy type and prefer remote destinations, you’ll LOVE exploring Haida Gwaii! I consider myself extremely indoorsy, and even I enjoyed being outside. Here is a quick roundup of eight of the main things you can do on Haida Gwaii. If you want to know specifcially what we did, keep scrolling to read our itinerary!
Hike
There are a plethora of hikes to explore on Haida Gwaii! One of the most popular is the hike to Tow Hill (now known as its Haida name, Taaw Tldáaw) along the north shore of Graham Island. You can also do the Golden Spruce Hike just outside of Port Clements. In Sandspit, the Dover Trail came highly recommended, and the Onward Point Trail offers occasional whale viewing opportunities!
We did a few hikes during our time on Haida Gwaii. Read more about the details and our experiences in the itinerary below!
Walk on the beach
Whether you like to spend your time looking for cool rocks, shells, or even agates or if you just like to listen to the sound of the waves, you can’t go wrong with a walk on the beach! Most of the beaches on Haida Gwaii are quite rocky, so be sure to wear sturdy shoes. Sunrises and sunsets on the beach are top notch, too!
Fish
Haida Gwaii is the perfect destination if you enjoy fishing, especially fishing for salmon, halibut, tuna, and/or fish that live in the depths of the sea. You can even stay in one of a few fishing lodges.
Kayak
Kayaking is another popular activity on Haida Gwaii. You can even book multi-day kayaking tours of Gwaii Haanas National Park and explore some of the most remote and beautiful parts of Haida Gwaii.
Spot wildlife
There is no shortage of wildlife to be spotted on Haida Gwaii! We were greeted by bald eagles upon landing, heard lots of other birds during our hikes, saw deer multiple times, spotted gray whales on every ferry ride between Alliford Bay and Skidegate (which is unusual, as we learned), and saw black bears near Gray Bay on four occasions (not sure if they were the same bears or not).
Fun fact: Haida Gwaii is the home of the largest subspecies of black bear in ALL of North America! We got pretty close to one on the road (we were in the car, thank goodness), and I can confirm that it was quite large.
Visit the Haida Gwaii Museum
Learn more about the history and culture of Haida Nation at the Haida Gwaii Museum! It’s located on the water a couple of minutes from the Skidegate ferry terminal just before you reach the town of Skidegate. This was the one thing we ran out of time for, so we’ll have to go next time!
Golf
There is a golf course in Sandspit that is right next to Hekate’s Retreat called Willows Golf Course! Rent a golf cart and play all nine holes, then grab a bite to eat at The Clubhouse restaurant.
Camp
Camping is one of the most popular activities on Haida Gwaii. Folks bring their campers via the ferry from Prince Rupert (be sure to make reservations in advance)! There are campgrounds to be found from south of Sandspit up to Masset and the Tow Hill area.
Want to know how we spent our four full days on Haida Gwaii? Read on for our detailed itinerary! (I wrote it out mostly for myself to look back on, but if it helps you plan your own trip at all, that’s even better!)
Haida Gwaii Itinerary
Arrive at Sandspit
We flew on the once-daily Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sandspit and arrived in the mid-afternoon. Sandspit is a tiny airport with one gate, a small security area just outside the one gate, and the cutest baggage carousel you’ve ever seen. We booked economy flex tickets, which included a checked bag; the Dash 8 propellor plane is tiny, and even our carry-ons wouldn’t have fit in the overhead bins, so we checked our bags.
There is a visitor center with a gift shop, a bistro, and a single rental car counter in the airport, but be aware that they are open limited hours. The gift shop was open for a couple of hours (basically only when people were at the airport departing or arriving), and the rental car counter closes quickly after the flight lands, too, so don’t dilly-dally once you arrive!
After picking up our rental car (SUV, because we had six people), we drove the short distance from the airport to Hekate’s Retreat, which is where we stayed for our 5-night, 4-full-day trip. (Read more about where we stayed on Haida Gwaii and why it was so special!)
The first order of business after checking out our home for the next few days was a trip to the local grocery store, Super Valu, to grab a number of things to stock up the kitchen before they closed. They had a good selection of items, and prices were not as high as I thought they would be considering we were on an island AND in Canada.
We ate dinner at the Clubhouse at Hekate’s Retreat because it was the first night they were open for dinner for the season! It was wonderful—I had the potato and bacon soup and fries (of course). Everyone enjoyed what they ate, and the fried fish was a big hit. I also got to meet the resident barn cat, Dixon! He is so sweet.
Day 1: Sandspit, Moresby Island
For our first full day on Haida Gwaii, I spent the day enjoying the sunroom in the Homestead House while everyone else hopped in the car to go to the other island for a quick visit. (The only way to get to Graham Island to the north is to take a ferry. It’s free from Sandspit but costs a hefty amount of money from Skidegate back to Sandspit. I believe it was CA$25 for the car plus CA$10 for each person in the car.)
I loved sleeping in and giving myself a break after all the travel the day prior. The sunroom was my favorite room in the house, so it was nice to take advantage of it! I tried to read but ended up napping on and off, and a couple of rain showers passed by and made the most lovely sound on the glass windows. (Heaven!)
We enjoyed another dinner at the Clubhouse. Almost all of us ordered something different the second night. I got the green goddess salad (plus fries!) and it was soooo good! The menu at the Clubhouse was pretty limited because they were just reopening for the season and not yet fully staffed, but it was still hard to pick what to eat! Everything tasted great.
After dinner, we took advantage of the late sunset and walked the short distance to the beach. It was absolutely FREEZING cold with the wind and on-and-off rain; I wish I had brought gloves and earmuffs or a beanie. Brr! We saw a couple of eagles by the water and then headed back. Dixon gave Korri and me a quick tour of Hekate’s Retreat, and then we retreated inside to play cards!
Day 2: Graham Island (Skidegate, Tlell, Port Clements, Masset, Tow Hill)
We woke up (relatively) early to catch the ferry from Alliford Bay to Skidegate with plans to spend the whole day exploring Graham Island. During our ferry ride, we saw the blowholes of WHALES—and bald eagles hanging out on the rocks nearby. It was amazing!
The first of our stops was to visit one of Korri’s grandma’s friends from many years ago. She lives on a beautiful property near Tlell, right along the ocean. Her property is sadly becoming smaller due to a lot of erosion from the ocean. It was fun to hear her stories.
After that, we continued north on the one paved road to Port Clements, which is where Korri’s grandma and mom lived for a year. We drove through quickly before continuing on to Masset and then Tow Hill. Shortly after Masset, the road becomes unpaved, but it is somewhat maintained (there were a number of potholes).
We stopped at Agate Beach Campground for a short walk on the beach (looking for agates, of course) and then ended up driving all the way to the Hiellen Village Longhouses and the entrance to North Beach before realizing we missed the stop for the Tow Hill hike. (You can drive on North Beach, but not in a rental car!)
There is a pullout area between the Agate Beach turn off and the Hiellen River, and that’s where the Tow Hill hike begins. There’s also another path that takes you to the blowhole, but it was low tide so we didn’t see it in action. The walk to the blowhole overlook is mostly flat and on a boardwalk, so it’s easily accessible. The rest of the hike to Tow Hill is also built on boardwalks but there are a lot of steps to contend with.
I really enjoyed this hike and the great path that was constructed for it! Do be careful on a windy day, as those trees can come down at any time (you’ll see a lot of downed trees that were cut through for the path). We did this entire hike in about an hour plus a lot of time spent climbing around on the rock and combing the beach near the blowhole.
After Tow Hill, we drove back to Masset to stop at the local grocery store for more things to eat and drink, and then we drove back to Port Clements to eat dinner at The Axe and Anchor Pub. It has a GREAT location overlooking the water, and the food was yummy, too! (Can you guess what I ate? 😉 More potatoes, of course!)
We were in a bit of a rush to get back in time to catch the 7:30 pm ferry departing Skidegate, as there wasn’t going to be another one until 10:30 pm—the last one of the night! We stopped very quickly for photos at Balance Rock before continuing on to the ferry terminal. We were surprised that only two vehicles were on the ferry back, including ours. The whales were out again on the ferry ride back to Sandspit!
Day 3: Brunch + Graham Island Again
Day 3 of our trip kicked off with a lovely brunch at the Clubhouse at Hekate’s Retreat to celebrate Mother’s Day! They offered three options of eggs benedict (tomato, chorizo, or smoked salmon) or a breakfast sandwich. I ordered the breakfast sandwich and a side of diced potatoes! It was yummy but I wished there were greens on the sandwich, like arugula.
Some of us headed back over to Graham Island to make another stop at a beach north of Tlell since we didn’t have time to stop the day before. It was a quicker trip, but we saw the whales out AGAIN on both ferry rides. Unfortunately, we also came across a dead grey whale on the beach north of Skidegate. It had been discovered on the beach that morning.
After making another quick stop at Balance Rock (because I thought of another picture idea, ha!), we caught the ferry back to Moresby Island and Sandspit and enjoyed dinner with Korri’s distant family at their house. They had old family videos (recorded around their family home and property in Sandspit) digitized, so we watched them, of course. Many of the videos were from the 1940s. The quality was great for how old they were!
The sun finally made an appearance after a few grey days, so we drove out to the beach along the west side of the airport to catch the sunset. From there, we walked to the Sandspit spit (“Sandspit” is an apt name; it’s a narrow piece of the beach where two bodies of water meet and the waves converge on either side) before it became covered by the tide, and then Korri and I walked back to the house via the north and east sides of the airport.
The walk was longer than I had anticipated (who knew runways were so long?! 😆), but it was light for almost our whole walk back. We caught a gorgeous view of the rising moon AND the space station flew by overhead at least twice! We could see it all the way until it crossed into Manitoba.
Day 4: Hike + Campfire at Gray Bay
On our last full day on Haida Gwaii, Korri, his stepdad, and I kicked it off by tackling the Dover Trail, which came recommended to us by our waitress at the Clubhouse the first night! (I didn’t catch her name!) I was really excited to do this one. It was fun, but WAY more than we had anticipated, ha.
The trail starts easy; the path is pretty flat for a couple hundred meters out to a gazebo that overlooks a river. After that, things start getting a little more difficult. The trail is mostly dirt, sometimes rocky, and can be muddy in spots. At one point, you cross the river over a fallen tree (the trail is built into it), and it splits off in two directions. It’s a loop, so you can go either way. We opted to go to the right along the river.
There are yellow salmon markers along the trail to keep you on track. There were a few spots where we had to use our hands (and/or butts) to tackle steep, sometimes slick terrain. When you see a rope, I recommend grabbing it just in case! The trail markers also start to get dicey in spots and turn into white triangles or squares which can be hard to spot.
We tried to make it all the way to the waterfall at the end of the loop. We could hear it, but we got to the point where there had been a debris flow (or landslide) of some kind and Korri couldn’t figure out where the path was. At the same time, Korri slipped and cut his hand, and then his stepdad slipped (but luckily caught himself).
We took the other side of the loop back. I was quite sweaty by the end of it and had to change when we got back! It was fun and challenging, but I recommend stopping at the river and heading back if you don’t want to endure a hike that’ll make you sweat. It’s considered moderate, but it seemed on the more strenuous end to me. I also don’t hike a whole lot, so it’s possible I’m wrong. Haha!
The Dover Trail claims to be 3 km total, but it was actually closer to 3 miles or 5 km when we finished according to Korri’s Garmin. Safe to say, we were a bit late getting back to the house to head out for the next adventure.
We met Korri’s extended family at Gray Bay, which is south of Sandspit along a gravel logging road. They claimed a campsite (there were many open spots) so that we could build a campfire near the beach and roast hot dogs. It’s a longstanding family tradition to spend time at Gray Bay. I can see why; it was absolutely beautiful!
At Gray Bay, we walked along the beach, spotted eagles flying overhead, watched a black bear walk by, found the daily Air Canada flight approaching the airport, and ate a lovely picnic lunch. The weather was perfect for our final day. The only downside was trying to keep the horseflies away!
On our way out of Gray Bay, we stopped to hike the Secret Cove Trail, which ends at a small beach. I loved it! A couple of black bears were sitting in the distance when we started the hike, so we spent the hike making lots of noise. Luckily, we didn’t come across them.
This hike was easier and shorter than Dover Trail but still not really accessible. The waves at this beach were the largest of any of the beaches we visited, and I think it was because the water was pretty deep just offshore here. Korri loved the waves here the most, of course.
We made it back to the house with hopes of grabbing dinner from the Smoke and Mirrors food truck, which supposedly closed at 8 pm. We made it there around 7:50 pm and were told that they were closed, and another party was there picking up orders that they had preordered. So, I recommend ignoring the hours on Google and preordering if you want to eat there. (Luckily, we still had a dozen eggs at the house, so Korri whipped up breakfast for dinner!)
Korri turned on the sauna for the two of us because we couldn’t leave without trying it out! Unfortunately, neither of us brought swimsuits…but luckily, I had extra undies (you know, just in case—LOL). Dixon ran inside the sauna when we opened the door! Silly cat. Honestly, he probably would have been fine down on the floor, I think. It was much hotter sitting up high.
Depart Sandspit + Overnight in Vancouver
We said our goodbyes to the Homestead House at Hekate’s Retreat and had time to take Korri’s mom, grandma, and grandma’s cousin to Dover Trail to walk the short rocky path to the gazebo. It’s an easy, 5-minute walk to the gazebo (or longer if you stop to take photos, record videos, and enjoy the scenery), which overlooks the river. There’s also a plastic box with a guest book you can sign! I didn’t see it the day before, so I made sure to sign it.
On the way to the airport, we stopped to fill up the rental car’s gas tank at an inconspicuous gas “station”—the only one in Sandspit. If you’re paying with a card, pull up to pump 1 or 2 and go inside the shed to insert your card and indicate which pump you’re at. The pumps are connected directly to the gas tanks outside. Head back inside the shed for the receipt.
The rental car had to be returned by 1 pm, so we were back at the airport well before the flight from Vancouver was scheduled to land at 2:40 pm (and before it left YVR!). We grabbed some food at Shingle Bay Bistro inside the airport, shopped in the visitor centre once it opened at 1:30, checked our bags for the flight back, and visited the restroom one more time.
Security opened at 2:15, and they wanted us through security and ready to go when the flight landed. This was one of the strictest securities I’ve been through, and it’s probably just because they only have to deal with one small flight a day, ha. I pulled out all of my electronics but probably only needed to pull out my laptop…
After a short delay, we boarded and were on our way back to Vancouver. The wind was coming from the north, so we took off towards the north instead of the usual southerly departure. Our flight was pretty empty going back so we could all have our own row with views out the window!
We ended up staying a night at the Fairmont Hotel connected to the Vancouver airport and flying back to Boise the following morning. There was one flight option that would have gotten us back to Boise the same night, but we weren’t sure if we would have made the short connection since you go through U.S. customs at YVR.
We watched that flight leave from our hotel room, so it’s possible we could have made it… but it was nice to relax for one more night and watch the planes come and go! The next morning, we had a short wait at security and essentially no wait or issues going through customs.
