The Memekay Horse Trail is located in the Sayward Valley, along the Memekay and Salmon Rivers. This site was created to serve as the north-end campsite for the Trail.
To reach the Memekay Horse Trail, just head north from Campbell River towards Sayward. Keep your eyes open after you cross the Amour De Cos Creek highway bridge. You are watching for the Big Tree Main on your left. It’s a gravel logging road and there will probably be a pick-up or machine parked at the highway junction.
If you turn left and follow this road going across the Salmon River bridge for about 5 km down you will cross a bridge. Go a bit further and you will see another logging road on your right, this is the Salmon River Mainline. Turn right here, and you will immediately see a logging bridge that goes over the Memekay River. Look to the right for the camp and its gate, just after you cross this bridge. This is the entrance to the campsite. The gate should be unlocked.
The 2-hectare rec site has a total of 11 campsites that are about 25 meters in length, big enough for all the horse trailers, trucks, and recreational vehicles you bring. Each campsite has two horse corrals. There are outhouses, non-potable water for horses, manure containment bins, picnic tables, and a big covered shelter with a wood stove to cook on.
The Salmon Brewster Trail Corridor runs between Brewster Lake and the Memekay River, it is 40 km long. runs through a working forest and follows old railway grades. There is another camp at the Brewster Lake Horse Camp Rec Site and one in between the two. The trails are mostly well-groomed by volunteers and the camps are awesome. You can hike this trail on foot but be warned, there are river crossings where you would have difficulties getting across without the use of a horse. The Memekay Horse Trail that leaves the site goes for about 5 km before running into a crossing on the Memekay, it’s a very nice trail to hike.
There are plenty of awesome vistas as you ride along the trail with a variety of birdlife to see along the way. You have a great chance of seeing herds of elk, or some blacktail deer. Black bears frequent the area, and you always need to watch for cougars. Bring a camera, so you can take home some incredible memories.
The southern horse camp is located at Brewster Lake, right at the narrows on the west end of the lake, this is the location of the old Camp 5 location. The 1.5-acre Brewster Horse Camp has more open camping and larger horse corrals. There is also a wilderness campsite that is located at the halfway point between the Brewster and Memekay camps.
The Memekay Horse Trail is the first equine-friendly trail and campground formally established on Vancouver Island. Trail riding enthusiasts on Vancouver Island have ridden the route now officially designated the Salmon Brewster Horse Trail for many years. The trail, built on a historic logging grade, had never been properly mapped and did not have any amenities. As a result, it was used primarily by locals.
To encourage equestrian tourism on the Island, the Salmon Brewster Horse Trail, and Campsites project completed a 40 km multi-use trail linking equestrian campsites at each end. The trail travels through crown land, running from the junction of the Salmon and Memekay Rivers to south Brewster Lake. It is just what was needed for the horse riders of Vancouver Island.