Coquihalla Toll Bypass

[mattias]

If this is a hush-hush or faux pa topic please let me know and I'll delete this post.

In late July I fulfilled a lifelong dream in our Delica: I bypassed the toll booth on the coquihalla!

This was, of course, not very high on my list of life's dreams, but I had heard about this fabled route since I was in high school. We were westbound and stopped at the last exit before the toll booth to feed our new daughter. I called North Shore Off Road and talked to a guy who took the route "over 15 years ago." He gave us the general location and said it goes up and over a mountain.

We found the logging road and the turnoff, put it in 4L and had a blast. The going was surprisingly good except for a section of 8" loose chunky rock and some deep water eroded ruts. I was so proud of our new van; I had a smile all the way back to the highway. We ended up near the base of Yak Peak at the closest exit on the west (or south) side of the Toll Booth. It's not a shortcut, but it's a funcut.

I understand taking this route is not against the law, yet there seems to be a lot of secrecy regarding its exact location. PM me and I would be happy to share the location with you!

Mattias


Anne happy to have me at the wheel. 1300m on the easy section of the detour.

[piyeguyo]

Not a "faux pas", I think it's a nice story! You saved some money, found a new cool route and now you can put a check mark in your to-do list.

[Green1]

I took the route eastbound last time through... and I tell ya, the toll is on the wrong road, the bypass is MUCH more fun!
bypass took me 25 mins and bypassed 10mins worth of highway (I figure I could get it down to 20 mins, some people claim 15, but I think they're nuts!)

not entirely sure I could find it westbound, but I plan to try at the end of the month when I head that direction (assuming decent weather... it wouldn't take much to make that road a nightmare!)

[mattias]

not entirely sure I could find it westbound, but I plan to try at the end of the month when I head that direction (assuming decent weather... it wouldn't take much to make that road a nightmare!)

You're right about the weather . . . it looks like it would be super greasy and muddy with a little rain. Finding the route westbound shouldn't be too difficult if you've done the route before. Just get on the main FSR (I forgot the name) for a couple Km and take the first 90 degree left spur.