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.
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 abandoned gold mine and one of the highest mountains in Victoria. As soon as you leave your car you can feel the wonderful forest alive around you.
Goldstream Park is home to the annual salmon spawning run every fall and the rest of the year is just a wonderful world of centuries old Douglas fir and western red cedars. Several of the huge trees are estimated to be over 600 years old and you find some reaching to the sky and others laying dramatically along the forest floor. Hiking trails extend all over the park, but the Mount Finlayson trail takes you up above the forest to beautiful views of Victoria that locals cherish. It's a relaxing trail that only gets a bit steeper and challenging near the end. The summit of Mount Finlayson is about an hour by foot from the Goldstream Park parking lot and it's a short hike to a summit towering over Victoria. Don't let the relatively short trail fool you into thinking the trail is easy. The steep and challenging, final section arrives at one of the more breathtaking vantage points over Victoria... and the ocean beyond. As if it Goldstream Park couldn't get any better it does. Across the highway a trail leads to the mighty 47 metre high Niagara Falls. Getting across the highway to Niagara Falls is half the fun. An ancient tunnel under the highway takes you to the falls. Finding this tunnel is easy, though it is not marked on Goldstream Park mapboards, as it is not officially for hikers. It is a tunnel to channel water under the highway, however, it is an amazing and beautiful way to get to the falls and for the most part, the only way.
Parking along the side of the highway is only feasible if you are driving from the north, and even then, it requires an abrupt and unmarked parking area. The best option, by far, is to park at the main parking area for Goldstream Park and walking to the falls and train trestle via the tunnel. With so much to see at Goldstream Park it is no wonder why it is so popular and so generously equipped with picnic tables. There is also a nice visitor centre, concession stand and dozens of picnic tables. Everywhere you look you will find mapboards and informative, interpretive signs indicating what to see.
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 ...
At 53 metres, Virgin Falls is quite an impressive sight. You walk through the short, two minute forest trail to reach it and it fills your view. It is located in a beautiful oasis it has created. A large, ice ...
The Nuu-chah-nulth (aka the Wickaninnish Trail), has the amazing distinction among all the other beach hikes in the Tofino-Ucluelet corridor, in that it is flanked on one side by the amazing, and historic ...
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 ...
East Sooke Regional Park is a convenient and easily accessible way to experience the wild, west coast of Vancouver Island. Weather blasted rocky cliffs, sandy beaches and deep coastal forest trails run ...
The Juan de Fuca Trail is a beautiful wilderness trail that hugs the west coast of Vancouver Island between Jordan River(north of Sooke) and Port Renfrew. Established as a provincial park in 1995, the Juan de ...
Spectacle Lake Provincial Park is popular with hiking, fishing, canoeing and swimming. Located north of Victoria, the drive to get there is very beautiful and well worth the drive just for the great stops on ...
Mount Tolmie is another beautiful, easily accessed mountain in Victoria with 360 degree ocean and city views. On a clear day you can spot Mount Baker far off in the distance in the US. There are some short ...
Day 6 on the West Coast Trail is another short, yet brutally challenging day hiking between Cullite Cove and Camper Bay. The ladders and mud sections are numerous as you snake your way through the thick ...
Day 5 on the West Coast Trail is a stunning, very difficult and tremendously enjoyable day of hiking. Walbran Creek is gorgeous campsite to wake up to. Your tent will open up to a sweeping view of Juan de ...
After camping at Tsusiat Falls and Carmanah Creek, you start to fall in love with every new campsite. Tsusiat Falls with its sweeping ocean views with the occasional passing whales to its crashing falls just ...
The gap between official West Coast Trail campsites is quite large after Tsusiat Falls at 25k. The next campsite heading south is at Cribs Creek at 42k, followed by Carmanah Creek at 46k. Fortunately much of the ...
The route from Darling River to Tsusiat Falls is just under 12 kilometres and quite a lot of that distance can be hiked on the beach. From Darling River you can take an inland route or walk along the beach. ...
Day 1 on the West Coast Trail hiking south from the Pachena trailhead is a fairly relaxing first day. Your first beach, Pachena Beach is a lovely, wide, sandy arch that stretches to a thick wall of forest on ...