Meares Island was the centre of dispute in the 80's when the Nuu-chah-nulth protested Macmillan Bloedel's intent to log the island. The Nuu-chah-nulth together with environmental groups blockaded the island and fought in the courts. The court ruled that until the Nuu-chah-nulth's land claim to the island was settled, no development can occur on the whole of Meares Island.
Extremely wild, remote feeling rainforestImpressively enormous ancient treesThe Hanging Garden Tree is 1500yrs old!The trail is fun to hike & always changingRescued from clearcutting in the 80'sBoat taxi ride is always funOften have the whole trail to yourself
The trailhead beach is ugly & dirtyWaiting for taxi pickup can be longTaxi ride makes the trail a bit expensive 
The Big Tree Trail 
Hot Springs Cove 
Lone Cone Nuu Chah Nulth Radar Beach Radar Hill Vargas Island 
Virgin Falls Wild Pacific Trail
Avatar Grove Bear Hill East Sooke Park 
Elk/Beaver Lake Esquimalt Lagoon 
Fort Rodd Hill Francis/King Galloping Goose Goldstream Park Gowlland Tod Grass Lake John Dean Park Juan de Fuca Trail Lone Tree Hill Mill Hill Mount Douglas Mount Tolmie Sooke Potholes Spectacle Lake Thetis Lake Witty's Lagoon
This tremendous victory enabled the creation of the Big Tree Trail and its breathtaking star feature, the Hanging Garden Tree. This monster of a tree. A Western Red Cedar, estimated to be older than 1500 years, is enormous. 18 metres around and magnificently tall, it easily is included among Canada's greatest trees. A nice boardwalk takes you from the trailhead to the Hanging Garden Tree. Most people return from there the same way. You can however, continue on and do a circle route taking in some more of the amazing, and unexpectedly pristine forest, that was the centre of such a chaotic battle not so long ago. If you walk the circle route, expect to take over an hour though, as the huge trees take a while to look at. The Hanging Garden Tree is particularly interesting as, like many other ancient cedars, is hollow on the inside. In fact you could fit five people inside quite easily! Tofino Water Taxi can ferry you to the trailhead from Tofino for a pretty good price ($30 return), and often at a moments notice.
The Big Tree Trail is located on Meares Island, just a short boat taxi ride from Tofino. Tofino Water Taxi/Poseidon's Adventure Centre is located at 750 Campbell Street, across from the Co-op Gas Station. If are driving toward Tofino, look for Poseidon's Adventure Centre on your right just past the Co-op Gas Station on your left. Their water taxis are located at the Crab Dock on the next street over, at the end of Olsen Road. Public parking is available on Olsen Road just steps from the departure taxi dock. The boat taxi drops you off at the boat dock on Meares Island at the start/finish of the Big Tree Trail. They will return at an agreed time depending on how long you will likely take to finish the trail. They are very helpful and knowledgeable about everything in and around Tofino, so will give you great advice on hiking the trail and what to see. For most hikers, they will arrange to come back to pick up 2-3 hours after dropping off.
