Sunshine Coast Trail packing list

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What this trail asks for specifically

The list

The pack itself

• 50–60 litres is the range for this trail. I carried 55 with a tent in it, and it was right
• A great pack: an Osprey 50 L — the comfort under a heavy load is what you’re paying for. Honestly I’d look at their 60 too
• A more budget-friendly one: the 55 L I actually used — fine, cheap, and it did the whole trail with a tent in it
• Check it comes with a pack liner — most do, and it saves buying one

Sleep

• Sleeping bag rated for the coldest night you expect, not the average one. A −7°C (20°F) down bag covers summer and the shoulder seasons — the huts sit high enough that a clear August night still gets cold
• An ultralight liner — adds a bit of warmth, and it is the thing you actually wash when you get home instead of the bag
• Sleeping pad — the huts have wooden platforms
• A quiet pad, if you have the choice. A crinkly inflatable on a wooden platform wakes the whole hut every time someone rolls over — it was my biggest complaint about hut nights. The thick inflatable I used is comfortable and has a built-in pillow and foot pump, but it is one of the noisy ones; I am still looking for a quieter pad and will link it when I find it
• Tent or tarp if you’re not willing to gamble on hut space. A one-person backpacking tent is the lighter answer; a two-person is the one you want if there are two of you or a dog. Every hut has tent space beside it, so this is insurance rather than a different trip
• A pocket tarp — under the tent to keep it dry, or in front of it to keep dirt out. Somewhere to step and to put things down that isn’t dirt
• Earplugs for sleeping. Huts are shared, and other people’s pads crinkle too.

Water and food

• Filter or purifier, plus a backup method. A gravity filter is worth it at a hut — you hang it and walk away instead of squeezing a bag for ten minutes
• Bottles/bladder totalling about 3 L of capacity. Collapsible soft flasks pack down to nothing once they’re empty, which matters on the days you only carry a litre
• Stove, fuel, pot, spork — or a genuinely no-cook plan. Budget: the stove-and-pot set I carried
• Food for your planned days plus one spare day
• Food bag and cord if you’re hanging rather than trusting a cache
• Smell-proof bags for food and garbage
• Coffee or tea bags — a warm cup of anything is great morning and evening

Food

• Freeze-dried meals are the easy answer — boil water, wait, eat, and the rubbish weighs nothing. Backpacker’s Pantry oatmeal for breakfast, Mountain House for dinner
• Check the servings-per-pouch number, not the calories on the front. A “two serving” pouch is one dinner after a 25 km day
• Buy them before you come. The same pouches are $15–23 each at Powell River Outdoors — fine for the one you forgot, brutal for a two-week resupply. Ordering ahead in bulk is the single biggest saving on this whole list
• More of this section to come — I’m still writing up what I actually ate and what I got wrong

Clothing

• Rain shell that actually works. This is the coast.
• Insulating layer for hut evenings — something thin that stuffs away small. A sweater takes up way too much room; I learned that the hard way. Mine is a Kühl jacket, which they sell direct rather than on Amazon, so there’s nothing to click here — the thing that matters is thin and compressible, not the brand
• High-waisted biker shorts — I lived in these
• Hiking shirt and shorts/trousers, plus dry sleep layers you never hike in. A UPF 50 long-sleeve sun shirt beats sunscreen on the logging roads — you stop reapplying it
• Two or three pairs of wool socks — wool is great here — and accept that some will be wet. The anti-blister compression socks I wore
• Swimsuit — the trail sleeps beside lakes most nights, and a swim at the end of a hot day is the best thing on it
• Budget: polarised sunglasses — the lakes and the logging roads are both glare
• If you can spend: camera sunglasses. I didn’t have these and wished I did — with poles in both hands and a dog on a lead, every photo I took meant stopping, unclipping and digging the phone out, so most of the trail went unphotographed. Worth knowing they film other people too; I’d leave them off inside a hut
• Gloves — I carried them in summer and used them
• A warm hat in the shoulder seasons — in summer I never needed one

Feet

• Broken-in boots or trail runners — there is mud, root and rock. The Merrell Moab 3 waterproof mids I wore
• Camp shoes worth their weight after ten hours
• Blister kit you know how to use

Navigation and safety

• Bear spray and butane canisters can’t go on a plane — not in checked bags either. If you’re flying in, buy both in Powell River: Powell River Outdoors is right by the ferry. Leave the spray behind at the end
• This app, offline, with your phone in airplane mode
• A battery bank — there is nowhere to charge for days. A solar bank buys a top-up on the exposed days, but treat the sun as a bonus and size the battery as if there were none
• Headlamp plus spare batteries
• First aid kit, including anything you personally need. Add a mini super glue — it closes small splits in skin, gear, and a dog’s paw pad
• Mini sewing kit — get one with thick waxed thread, because what actually tears is a pack strap or a boot, not a shirt
• Your own medications, for the full trip plus a spare day
• Ibuprofen. Everyone wants it by day three
• Strong DEET repellent — a 1 oz bottle is plenty and the mosquitoes near the lakes earn it
• Women: consider bringing UTI medication or test strips. They’re common out there and there is no pharmacy between the trailheads
• Contacts and solution, or spare glasses
• Bear spray, and knowing where it is on your pack. The canister I carried — remember it can’t fly, so buy it here or in Powell River
• Satellite messenger if you’re solo. There is no cell coverage for most of the trail and 911 needs a signal. The Garmin inReach Mini 2 is the one most people carry — it needs a subscription on top of the device, which is the part people forget to budget for
• Check which Garmin you have. A Garmin fitness watch is lovely for tracking your day and will not call anyone — satellite SOS is the inReach line, a separate device. People conflate the two and plan around a rescue button they aren’t carrying

Small things that mattered

• Trekking poles — the descents are long. Budget pair
• Microfibre towel, and biodegradable body wipes for the days there is no lake
• Trowel — half an ounce — and whatever else you need to bury it properly
• Hand sanitiser, toothbrush and toothpaste, the short version of everything
• Nail clippers — for sure. Sixteen days is long enough to need them
• A mini detangling brush, if you have hair to fight with
• Mini medical scissors — the blunt-tipped first-aid kind. Tape, moleskin, packaging, threads: they earned their spot every day
• A small razor, if that’s your thing
• Mini deodorant — a spray, so it works on clothes too. It’s scented, so it goes up in the bear cache at night with the food
• Sunscreen, SPF lip balm, and a hat — the logging-road sections have no shade at all
• For your face specifically, the one I used — a proper facial SPF you don’t mind reapplying beats body sunscreen you avoid because it stings your eyes. Buy the small size — you are carrying it, not storing it
• Dry bag — this matters more than it looks, because it’s also what your food hangs in at the bear caches
• Pack liner — separate from the dry bag, and your pack should come with one. “Waterproof” pack covers are optimistic.
• Camp suds — one small bottle of biodegradable soap
• A few metres of paracord — clothesline at the hut, gear repairs, spare lace

If you’re bringing a dog

• Their food, plus their own water and a bowl
• Check every leg of your transport — some carriers refuse dogs, and one of the bus routes to the trail does
• Paw protection — the rock is sharp and the road sections get hot. Paw wax is easier to keep on than boots
• Their rabies vaccination card, on you — not left in the car
• Dog-safe insect repellent — works for both of you

What I’d leave behind

Gaiters, a second cook pot, spare “town clothes”, and most of the just-in-case pile. The trail is long enough that every extra pound is paid for on the climbs.

A hammock, specifically. I carried one and never used it — the huts have platforms and the good trees are already spoken for. Leave it.

And if you get out there and realize you brought too much anyway: the Shingle Mill pub will hold excess gear while you finish the trail. Ask, don’t assume — but that’s what I’d do with a too-heavy pack rather than carry it to Saltery Bay.