Pacific Rim Camping &
Trails
Long Beach Camping
Green Point Campground is the major,
developed vehicle campground, located halfway along Long
Beach, with an amphitheater for interpretive programs,
and rest rooms. Primitive walk-in sites are located at
the north end of the beach, at the end of a 1 km trail.
Additional camping facilities are located outside of the
park boundaries, in private campgrounds near Tofino (to
the northwest) and in Ucluelet (southeast).
The Ucluelet-Tofino Road, an extension of
Provincial Highway 4, runs through the length of the Long
Beach unit. There are several good viewpoints along the
route, including Radar Hill, the site of an old World War
Two installation that provides an excellent view of the
northwestern beaches, the ocean and nearby mountains
which lie to the east.
For private campgrounds in the area,
Go Here.
Park Trails
All trails in the Long Beach unit provide
day hikes through the beachside lands, including short
nature trails which lead through the rain forest and bog
areas. Others lead from visitor facilities at Long Beach,
to more remote beaches, past salmon streams, and through
stands of Sitka spruce.
South Beach Trail
Access: This short trail begins
behind the Wickaninnish Centre building, the same
starting point as for the Wickaninnish Trail.
The Trail: Only a half-mile (.75 km)
long, this trail leads from the museum building to two
secluded coves which offer a cobble beach (Lismer Beach),
and a beach constructed of more finely polished pebbles
(South Beach).
The Hike: From its start, the trail
leads through a small Sitka spruce forest, with the trees
shaped by the strong winds which whip this shoreline.
Side-trails run to the cobble beaches, with Lismer Beach
in first order. A boardwalk then climbs across the
headland, toward South Beach. There are wonderful views
of Wickaninnish Bay and Lismer Beach from this height,
with the trailside vegetation including salal and
salmonberry. After passing the Wickaninnish Trail
turnoff, the trail continues to the right, with more
boardwalk and stands of Sitka spruce and western hemlock.
After arriving at the pebble beach, look to the right to
view the storm surges through the double sea arch. The
south end of South Beach provides some quieter water in a
little finger inlet. Lismer Beach was named for Arthur
Lismer, one of Canada's greatest painters, and a member
of the Group of Seven, which created its own
impressionistic style of landscape painting in the first
half of the century.
Wickaninnish Trail
Access: The main trailhead is beside
the Wickaninnish Centre building. Park in the parking
lot, a little over a mile from the Tofino-Ucluelet Road
(leaving enough cash in the parking machine to cover your
walk, or the entire day). The eastern trailhead is at the
Florencia Bay parking lot. To get there, take the park
road that leads south, off the Wickaninnish Centre access
road, about half way from the Tofino-Ucluelet Road.
The Trail: The one-way hike is 2.5
km (.9 mile) long, and runs from the Wickaninnish Centre
parking lot (behind the building). Take the first part of
the South Beach Trail and take the Wickaninnish Trail
turnoff. The trail leads across the Quisitis Point
headland, coming out at the south shore of Florencia
(Wreck) Bay.
The Hike: Before the present highway
was built, this trail was used as the main pedestrian
route between Tofino and Ucluelet. You may be able to see
the old log corduroy surface on a small part of the
route. It passes a sphagnum bog with a border of
shorepine trees, some of which are hundreds of years old,
but rarely taller than nine or ten feet.
Willowbrae Trail
Access: Willowbrae Road connects
with the Tofino-Ucluelet Road, 2.6 miles (4.8 km) south
of the Highway 4 -- Port Alberni junction. Drive down
Willowbrae Road, approaching the park boundary, where
you'll find a small parking lot. The first part of the
trail is outside the park.
The Trail: This short trail (.8
mile, 1.4 km) is another part of the original foot trail
between the two villages. The route -- commonly walked
until 1942, when the highway was completed -- was about
30 miles long, including ten miles (16 km) of beach.
The Hike: As with the South Beach
Trail, the cedar logs placed on the route are largely
covered with moss. Approaching the shore, the trail
crosses a bridge. A side trail leads south to Half Moon
Bay. Stay on a straight course, and you'll continue
through the forest to arrive soon at the southeast end of
Florencia Bay. Over the years, the continual reshaping
powers of nature have narrowed the trail through the
growth of deer ferns and salal. Before the 1940s, the
trail was wide enough to accommodate a horse and wagon.
Half Moon Bay Trail
Access: Walk along the Willowbrae
Trail (see above), almost to Florencia Bay, and then turn
left at the sign.
The Trail: Only one-third mile long
(less than a mile, counting the walk on the Willowbrae
Trail), this trail leads to its southern trailhead, at
the edge of a small, quiet cove with a beach.
The Hike: From its start at the west
end of the Willowbrae Trail, this path leads through a
mixed conifer forest of spruce and hemlock. The trees are
exceptionally twisted. You'll see skunk cabbage growing
in wet depressions in the forest. The trail leads to a
high gravel bench with abundant sword fern, then descends
between spruces, on a wooden ramp to the cove. This is
one of the most scenic places in the Long Beach unit, and
a fine place to take easy-to-carry picnic supplies.
Spruce Fringe Trail
Access: The trailhead is at the
western edge of the Comber's Beach parking lot. To get
there, drive along the Tofino-Ucluelet Road, toward
Tofino (north), and turn left onto the park access road.
There is a nature exhibit beside the parking lot.
The Trail: This self-guiding trail
has interpretive signs along the route. This is a loop,
returning to the parking lot and the beach.
The Hike: This is a fine trail from
which to observe the Sitka spruce fringe environment, a
mixture of beach edge, piles of logs, and lots of salal.
The fringe extends only about 600 feet (200 meters)
inland from the beach. Look for pockets of moss and
lichen attracted to the tree bark. This is quite swampy
terrain, with patches of willows and crabapple trees.
There's another gravel terrace, caused by glacial action,
before the trail returns to the trailhead through a more
dense forest of cedar and western hemlock.
Schooner Trail
Access: The northern trailhead is
located on the Tofino-Ucluelet Road (Hwy 4), north of
Green Point Campground, heading west and then south to
approach the Northwestern end of Long Beach.
The Trail: Another short trail (.6
mile), the route leads through two forest zones before
reaching the beach. The larger island, just off the beach
(at the point) is Box Island. Follow the beach to the
right of the trailhead -- past the island -- and you'll
arrive at Schooner Cove.
The Hike: The route begins with the
trail leaving the highway and passing through a
cedar-hemlock forest, crossing a small stream where
salmon come to spawn. Along the way, the vegetation
changes to Sitka spruce forest as the trail approaches
the shoreline. This is another easy trail on which to
pack a picnic lunch.
Shoreline Bog Trail
Access: The trailhead is just off the
entrance road to Wickaninnish Beach and the museum. Drive
along this park road to a parking area located a short
distance beyond the Florencia Bay turnoff.
The Trail: This loop trail leads
along boardwalks, for a walk of less than a half-mile (.8
km). This is a self-guiding trail with interpretive
posts. Trail brochures are available at the trailhead.
The Hike: The bog is created by the
great amount of rain which falls, almost year-round. With
little drainage to the beach, the water stays in shallow
depressions. Most of the trees are shorepine. Peat moss
grows throughout the bog, separated by little hills or
hummocks where you'll see hemlock, red cedar and yellow
cedar. Here, the pines are so severely stunted because of
little nutrition, that they grow to a height of only 12
to 15 feet.
Rain Forest Trails
Access: Trailheads are located on
the Tofino-Ucluelet Road, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of
the park information center. There's a parking lot at
which signs direct you to the two trailheads.
The Trails: Two trailheads are at
the start of two separate loop walks. These are both
self-guiding, with markers explaining the forest
features. Each trail is .6 mile (1 km) long.
The Hike: While leading through the
same old-growth rain forest, the interpretation is
different on each trail. Loop A focuses on the forest
cycle. Loop B interprets forest structure and
inhabitants. This is perhaps the best place along the
whole Pacific Coast to experience an old-growth rain
forest. Although not as drippingly damp as the Hoh Rain
Forest in Olympic National Park (Washington), this rain
forest is very dense, and quite wet. You'll find tall
western hemlock, red cedar and amabilis fir. Moss gardens
hang from tree crevices, making a base for many ferns and
conifer seedlings. This is a great place for bird
watching, with kinglets, chickadees and other song birds
in attendance. You may not see the reclusive (and
endangered) marbled murrelet, which nests here in the
summer. The little salmon stream is Sandhill Creek.
Gold Mine Trail
Access: The trailhead is located on
Highway 4 (Tofino-Ucluelet Road), .6 mile (1 km) west of
the park information center.
The Trail: Cutting across the park,
between the highway and Florencia Bay, the 1-mile
(1.5-km) route leads from the highway to the beach where
gold mining took place during the early years of the
1900s. The placer operations didn't last long, and a few
years after discovery, everyone left the area. During the
depression a few miners returned to salvage what gold
remained. Some rusted mining machinery may be seen at the
end of the trail.
w This is an area which definitely
suffered at the hands of logging operations, which began
here in the 1950s. The original miners' trail was widened
for logging. This area was re-planted with Douglas-fir
and Sitka spruce, not the original trees found here.
However, the original red cedar, amabilis fir and western
hemlock have managed to regenerate. The park managers
have allowed the forest to repair itself, since the park
was created in the 1970s. The end of the hike shows a
band of red alder, close to Florencia Beach.
