Hiking Vancouver Island

Travel info for Vancouver Island.       Trails in this area

Everything about Vancouver Island makes it a pleasant place to live and to visit. The combination of the mountains and the Pacific Ocean makes a very pretty picture, add to this the mild climate, the vegetation and wildlife, and it's easy to understand why this region is so popular. Here you will find forests of Sitka spruce, cedar, Douglas fir and hemlock. Blackbears, Cougars, and Black-tailed Deer, are the three largest animals on Vancouver Island. In the seas, there are 5 species of Pacific salmon and twenty-eight kinds of marine mammals that include Killer Whales, Sea Lions and Grey Whales. The west coast of the island with its many inlets and sounds offers some of the best back country packing treks, this includes the West Coast Trail and Cape Scott Provincial Park. The diversity of Vancouver Island gives the hiker many choices, from short two to three hour hikes to long seven to eight day treks.

Botanical Beach Provincial Park:

Botanical Beach Provincial Park, on the southwest coast of the Island is believed to offer the best of the BC coast. This park established in 1989 has the best tide pools on the coast. At low tides, these pool are filled with marine life, such as anemones, sea urchins, nudibranchs, starfish and more. This park provides easy day hikes, and is approximately 100 km. (60 mi.) from Victoria at Port Renfrew. Explore and hike this area at low tide. Keep a close watch for incoming tides, when hiking this region, and before you go, check for tide listenings. Do not touch or take home any souvenirs from this park. The environment here is very fragile, so always be very careful where you go. Enjoy this very unique place.

Nootka Island:

Hiking the West Coast of Nootka is a rough scenic area where black bears, wolves, cougars, sea otters, seals, sea lions and bald eagles can be spotted. Weather can be unpredictable and hikers should be well prepared. It is recommended that only very fit and experienced hikers attempt this area or have a trained hiking guide. Approximate total hiking time is 25 hours. Approximate distance is 35 km. (22mi.).

Learn more about Hiking Nootka Island, birthplace of British Columbia.

Carmanah Valley:

Della Falls:

A very popular hike, is into Della Falls, in Strathcona Provincial Park. This, the highest free-falling falls in North America, the sixth highest in the world, it is 440 metres (1443 feet). It drops in three cascades and is very spectacular during spring runoff. To reach the falls you will have to go by boat part of the way and backpack in the rest of the way. The boat trip up Great Central Lake which is 36.8 km ( 23 mi.) is followed by a 16 km (10 mi.) hike into Della Falls. If you take your time to see all the sites, count on a week long outing. To reach the lake, take Highway # 4 from Port Alberni to the Sproat Lake Provincial Park turnoff and follow the signs to Great Central Lake. There are other hiking trails within Strathcona that will lead into alpine meadows and lakes. One is Marble Meadows, a backpacking trip with open ridges, small lakes and beautiful alpine flowers. Paradise Meadows a family day trip will take you into Forbidden Plateau where you will enjoy the view of mountains, forests, lakes, glaciers and meadows of flowers.

Other parts of Vancouver Island you might like to hike are short day walks on the Gulf Islands in Active Pass, day hikes at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, just out of Parksville and the Cowichan River Footpath. Hiking the complete trail will take from five to six hours as it's 19 km (12 mi.) from start to finish.

No matter where on Vancouver Island your hiking takes you, please be careful of the environment.It is always a good idea to check out the conditions of any hiking trails you might be taking. Be safe, have fun!