Highway 101 is the main north-south thoroughfare on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia

Sunshine Coast, British Columbia

The Sunshine Coast is a region of the southern mainland coast of British Columbia, on the eastern shore of the Strait of Georgia, and just northwest of Greater Vancouver...

. Highway 101, which first opened in 1962, is divided into two separate land segments, with a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 link in between. The number of the highway is derived from that of U.S. Route 101

U.S. Route 101

U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101, is an important north–south U.S. highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States...

, although it does not actually connect with the identically-numbered U.S. Highway (which does not even reach the Canadian border and, even if it did, would have to do so on Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

, using a ferry link).

Route details

Highway 101's total distance, including the ferry link, is 159 km (99 mi). The Highway begins in the south at the BC Ferries

BC Ferries

British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

 terminal at Langdale

Langdale, British Columbia

Langdale is a small community on the Sunshine Coast of southern British Columbia. It is set in a verdant environment characteristic of many small BC communities. Its main feature is the BC Ferries terminal that links the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver via Horseshoe Bay, with connecting foot-passenger...

, which connects the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 via a ferry route across Howe Sound

Howe Sound

Howe Sound is a roughly triangular sound, actually a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver.-Geography:Howe Sound's mouth at the Strait of Georgia is situated between West Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast. The sound is triangular shaped, open on its southeast towards the...

 to Horseshoe Bay. The southern land section of Highway 101 is 81 km (50 mi) long, and includes from south to north, the communities of Gibsons

Gibsons, British Columbia

Gibsons is a coastal community of 4,200 located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada on the Strait of Georgia. It is the main marine gateway to the Sunshine Coast....

, Roberts Creek, Sechelt

Sechelt, British Columbia

The District Municipality of Sechelt is on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, Sechelt is accessible to the mainland of British Columbia via a 40 minute ferry trip between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale, and a 25 minute drive from Langdale...

, Halfmoon Bay and Pender Harbour. The ferry link across the Jervis Inlet

Jervis Inlet

Jervis Inlet is a principal inlet of the British Columbia Coast, about northwest of Vancouver.-Geography:It stretches from its head at the mouth of the short Skwakwa River to its opening into the Strait of Georgia near Texada Island...

 lasts 19 km (12 mi) between Earls Cove

Earls Cove, British Columbia

Earls Cove is a small settlement located on Jervis Inlet in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia. It is a terminal for the BC Ferries route across the inlet to Saltery Bay, linking the Lower Sunshine Coast with the Upper Sunshine Coast of B.C...

 to the south and Saltery Bay to the north. The 59 km (37 mi) long northern land section of Highway 101 includes, from southeast to northwest, the hamlets of Stillwater and Lang Bay, the city of Powell River

Powell River, British Columbia

Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, that part of the larger Georgia Strait between Texada Island and the Mainland...

, and the community of Lund

Lund, British Columbia

Lund is a small craft harbour and unincorporated village in Powell River District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located along the northern part of the Strait of Georgia on the mainland BC coast. The main landmark in the village is the Lund Hotel, established in 1905...

, at the northern terminus of the Highway.

Maintenance

The highway is maintained by Capilano Highway Services. There is a maintenance yard in Sechelt that serves the Sunshine Coast area from the Langdale Ferry Terminal to the Earls Cove Ferry Terminal. There is another maintenance yard in Powell River that serves the Highway from the Saltery Bay Ferry Terminal to Lund.