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Numerous irregularly shaped islands choke the central part of the Straits of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Quadra Island is opposite the town of Campbell River, where the narrow straits concentrate the migrating salmon and produce perhaps the world's best salmon fishing. Orcas (killer whales) come here for the salmon runs also, and whale watching is a local tourist attraction.

Quadra Island is a short ferry ride from Campbell River, and has several small settlements, many rustic homes and vacation cabins. In the south-center of the island rounded peaks, known as the Chinese Mountains, rise to about a thousand feet elevation, affording spectacular views. To the southwest a wisp of smoke marks the site of Campbell River, with the snowy peaks of Strathcona Provincial Park behind. To the southwest a sandy hook shelters another ferry dock, with service to Cortes Island.

The bare rocks of the summit show grooves and scratches left by Pleistocene glaciation. Erratic boulders lie here and there, some of them granite, indicating that they were carried in glacial ice from the mainland mountains.

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