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.
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 Fuca Trail traces its origins to the 1889 telegraph line that connected Victoria and Bamfield. The telegraph line connected Bamfield to the British Empire via a transpacific cable.
This cable required patrolmen to routinely check the line. Linesmen were housed in in cabins along the route. The Juan de Fuca Trail and the West Coast Trail share this function, however, the West Coast Trail continued to function as a lifesaving trail, long after what would eventually be the Juan de Fuca Trail fell into disuse. Decades later, in the 1970's, with the growing popularity of the West Coast Trail, a renewed interest in the area continued to grow. Public interest in the area collided with logging companies pushing into the area. The Victoria Sierra Club filed lawsuits in an attempt to halt logging in the Sombrio Creek and Parkinson Creek regions. The Victoria Sierra Club was successful in halting the logging and the "West Coast Strip" was preserved as a future park. Finally in the 1990's the provincial government acquired and set aside land for the proposed provincial park. The beautiful 47 kilometre Juan de Fuca Trail we see today was finally constructed and officially designated as the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. The trail and the park are simply known as the Juan de Fuca Trail. The park is named after Juan de Fuca Strait, the large channel of water that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland of North America. Juan de Fuca Strait is also the international boundary between Canada and the United States. Juan de Fuca was a Greek sailer and explored the area four centuries ago and originally name it the "Strait of Anian". In 1787 British Captain Charles Barkley, following Juan de Fuca's writings about the area two centuries earlier, rediscovered "Juan de Fuca's" strait. The name stuck, and it has been known ever since as the Juan de Fuca Strait.
As a Vancouver Island coast hiking trail, Juan de Fuca Trail is comparable to the world renowned West Coast Trail. There are some distinct differences however. The Juan de Fuca Trail is much tamer and easily accessible at numerous access trailheads, whereas the West Coast Trail has only three access points. The West Coast Trail is brutally difficult with many difficult ladders and water crossings and is effectively a 75 kilometre, self sustained trek through the wilderness. Juan de Fuca Trail has few challenging sections and no frightening ladder climbs or cable car crossings to negotiate. Also, owing to the number of access points, Juan de Fuca Trail is usually hiked in sections as daytrips or short 1 night trips.
Mount Doug as it's locally known is a remarkably easily accessible park with both 360 degree mountain views as well as a beautiful beach. The beach and mountain are connected both by trails and roads ...
Sooke is a wonderful coastal town with amazingly deep and beautiful forests, lakes and rivers. The Sooke Potholes is an extraordinary example of this. Over thousands of years, swirling water have created ...
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 ...
The Elk & Beaver Lake trail is one of many beautiful lakeside trails in Victoria. From the convenient parking lot the trail is mostly flat, gravel or dirt, densely forested at times and runs around both Elk ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 Beach is one of the countless places that makes this part of the world so amazing. It is difficult to get to due to it having an unmarked trailhead, steep and muddy trail, and considerable climbing and ...