Highway 28 is an east-west highway on the northern part of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

, within the

Strathcona Regional District The Strathcona Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It was created on February 15, 2008, encompassing the northern and western portions of the former Regional District of Comox-Strathcona. The partition left ...

. It is the main link to the northern part of Strathcona Provincial Park and the remote logging communities of Gold River and

Tahsis Tahsis is a village municipality on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, about (by air) northwest of the provincial capital Victoria at . , the Canadian census listed 316 residents, a decline from the 2006 Census count of ...

, on the northwest coast of the Island. The highway first opened in 1970. Before the section of Highway 19 from Campbell River to

Port Hardy Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east end of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 4,132 as of the last census (2016). It is the gateway to Cape Scott Provincial Park, the North ...

was opened in 1979, Highway 28 acted as the main access to Port Hardy and various other communities on the northern tip of the Island (in the

Regional District of Mount Waddington The Regional District of Mount Waddington (RDMW) is a regional district in British Columbia. It takes in the lower Central Coast region centred on the Queen Charlotte Strait coast of northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining parts of mainland ...

), aided by a system of local logging roads leading from the highway to the various north Island communities.

History

Originally a logging road that connected to Highway 19, a few kilometres west of Campbell River, the road split, one alignment going south into Strathcona Park, and the other going west to Gold River, which looped north of Upper Campbell Lake. By 1970 a paved Highway was built over most of the logging road. Abandoning the west logging road, the new highway continued south, reaching the south end of Upper Campbell Lake. A bridge was built over the river between Buttle Lake and Upper Campbell Lake and a stretch of highway was added to where the west logging road connected. The rest of the road that lead to Gold River was subsequently paved. The access to Port Hardy, however, was left unchanged until 1976 when Highway 19 was extended north.

Route details

Highway 28 passing through Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island

Highway 28's total length is 99 km (62 mi). Starting in Gold River at the shore of Muchalat Inlet, Highway 28 follows the Gold and Heber Rivers northeast for 24 km (15 mi) before entering Strathcona Provincial Park. The highway winds its way east through the park, following the Elk River, for 17 km (11 mi), then hugs Upper Campbell Lake for another 11 km (7 mi) to its junction with the road to Westmin Mines. 37 km later (23 mi), the highway enters the city limits of Campbell River, finally terminating 10 km (6 mi) later at a junction with Highways 19 and 19A, in the northern part of the city. {{BCHighways 028 Campbell River, British Columbia Transport on Vancouver Island