Clayoquot Sound has a staggering array of hiking trails within it. Between Tofino and Ucluelet, Pacific Rim National Park has several wilderness and beach trails, each one radically different from the last. The Islands in the area are often separate Provincial Parks.
TheWestCoastTrail
The world famous West Coast Trail is found not far from Ucluelet. Bamfield is home to the northern trailhead to this wonderful trail known for its 80 foot ladders, stunning beaches and regular encounters with shipwrecks from the Graveyard of the Pacific.
Esquimalt Lagoon is a wonderful stretch of beach that extends two kilometres, separating the lagoon from the ocean. The beach is made up of wonderful, powdery sand and driftwood logs. Looking out from the beach you as you sit on a massive and ancient, driftwood tree, with weathering that makes it dry, smooth, gleaming white. A perfect seat to take in the view.
The view you see is a perfect stretch of sand, littered with improbably idyllic driftwood logs. In the unexpectedly close distance you see the United States. Snowy mountain peaks of the Olympic Range in the fuzzy distance. Partway between these mountains in the US and the Lagoon where you sit, a jut of land stretches out similar to the distant mountains, but dark coloured, instead of fuzzy grey. The few kilometres greys the view, whereas the three or so kilometres to the jut of land at the end of the beach does not. It contrasts with the distant mountains in a hypnotizing way. The Lagoon is officially called the Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary. But for those of us that grew up in the area, it is simply the Lagoon. A place where you surreptitiously went to drink beers with your friends when you were 16. Or a decade earlier, watch your dad scuba dive from this same ancient driftwood log seat. He would walk into the ocean and disappear. We would trace the smooth, dark surface for 15 minutes until finally a ripple in the surface down the beach. He would back out of the water to the beach and the yellow, mesh bag full of sea creatures. When you are 6 years old and a Dungeness Crab is pulled from the ocean and set in front of you on the sand it is something you never forget. Like a giant, armored spider, its claws extend menacingly toward you. It crab walks back to the ocean, all the time facing you with those giant claws. More crabs come out of the bag, and bright purple starfish. Occasionally dad would return with monstrous Lingcod he savagely speared with his speargun. What a marvel of creatures live just beyond view, under the surface.
The Lagoon, you soon discover growing up here, is not the only one. Further down the beach, about 4 kilometres away is another similarly beautiful bit of paradise, Albert Head Lagoon Regional Park. Albert Head, the large finger of land that stretches out into the ocean has another lagoon just beyond it. Witty's Lagoon is another hidden bit of serenity. A hidden wilderness world that somehow managed to survive development and become a park. A wonderful park, hidden well inside Metchosin, a rural suburb of Victoria.
Avatar Grove and Canada's gnarliest tree is an amazing thing to see and finding it is half the fun. The cute little town of Port Renfrew, know for it's logging, amazing fishing and home of one of the ...
Lone Tree Hill Regional Park is a wonderful, hidden bit of paradise deep in the hills of Victoria has a beautiful panoramic view from its summit. The hike is fairly short and relaxing at just 1.6k trailhead ...
Bear Hill Regional Park is a nice hill trail, just north of Elk/Beaver Lake in Saanich. It is an easy 2k hike to the summit where the views are sensational. From the trailhead to the summit only takes about 20-30 ...
Goldstream Provincial Park and Mount Finlayson are beautiful places that are definitely a must-see on any visit to Victoria. Huge coastal rainforest trees everywhere. An impressively golden river, an ...
The Wild Pacific Trail is a must see on any visit to Pacific Rim National Park, Ucluelet and/or Tofino. Located in Ucluelet, the Wild Pacific Trail is actually a set of three trails that connect into a ...
Radar Hill is definitely one of the Tofino sights not to be missed. It's a quick and easy walk to the top and the views are beautiful. Definitely one of the few places in Tofino where you can see above the ...
Vargas Island Provincial Park is a popular hiking, camping and kayaking destination due to its great location close to Tofino. It has wonderful, wilderness camping for free and a beautiful feeling of ...
Hot Springs Cove is a wonderful day trip from Tofino. Lots of whale watching companies offer whale watching/hot springs tours for very reasonable prices. The boat ride is out on the open ocean is quite fun ...