Is it possible to bicycle route 20 (Williams Lake-Bella Coola)?
Is it possible? It’s highly recommended! I rode from Pemberton, BC to Bella Coola during the summer of 2008 and it was one of the best bike tours I’ve done to date (a somewhat close second to touring in Chile.) There was very little traffic on HWY 20 – I mean VERY little. There were rustic campgrounds, but I can’t remember where exactly they were located. There are a few inns/cabin-type accomodations that offer tent camping and this is what I ended up doing simply because of where I was when it came time to stop for the day.
The road was paved all the way past Nimpo Lake, at which point you hit dirt and begin the ascent over, and down, Heckman Pass (beautiful and desolate ride.) The road was totally fine on a bike (with trailer) although had it been raining (which it eventually did as I dropped into the Bella Coola valley) the descent may have been a little hairy. I would feel more comfortable on a bike on this road than in a car.
You can see some adventure photos from the trip here – http://mackieimages.com/photoblog/2010/07/29/a-look-back-bella-coola-bike-tour-2/
Route 20 is now paved from Williams Lake to Anahim Lake, and from the foot of Heckman Pass (in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park) to Bella Coola. The Ministry of Highways is now paving some more of the highway each year. As for the unpaved stretch (Anahim Lake to the foot of Heckman Pass), the surface on much of it is pretty hard, so this road may be passable on a touring bike, if you have sturdy tires. Traffic on route 20 is light. The Ministry of Forests used to maintain numerous campsites along route 20, but the provincial government announced plans in 2002 to close them down; I don’t know how many of them are still usable. There are enough motels along route 20 to make credit-card touring possible. There is now ferry service between Bella Coola and Port Hardy, at the north end of Vancouver Island. This ferry stops in Bella Bella. Bella Bella is a stop on the Port Hardy-Prince Rupert ferry, so it will be possible to connect from Bella Coola to the Yellowhead Highway, or the Alaska Panhandl
