The Oyster River Nature Trails follow the Oyster River down to the estuary, then continue along the seaside to Salmon Point and back, a 6km walk with fine views.   Take Highway 19A north from Courtenay and at the Oyster River Bridge, turn onto Regent Road.   Park near the pub and follow the trail into the forest.   Continue down the riverside to the estuary where the river meets the ocean.   Trails go into the forest or along the shoreline and we chose the trail that follows the seaside all the way to Salmon Point.

The second half of the route follows a trail between wetlands (Oyster Pond) and the shoreline littered with logs and driftwood on the high tide border.   Views extend east to Cortes Island, Desolation Sound and the Coast Range peaks beyond.

The trail ends at Salmon Point, where there is a pub-restaurant, marine, and trailer park.  This could be a pub-to-pub walk.   We chose to go out-and-back without a pub stop, but we enjoyed some side routes to the estuary and to some geocaches along the route.

The trails don't really constitute a "hike", but offer a 4-season, 2-hour walk with fine views, one that we hope to return to at some point.