by Alan K. Lee
Surrounded by the salt waters of the Pacific Ocean and Inside Passage, dotted with freshwater lakes and streams, recipient of abundant precipitation (more than 120″ per year along its west coast), Vancouver Island is a land defined by water.
The island’s relatively mild, wet climate makes it one of the most productive and diverse terrestrial ecosystems on the planet. And the cold, nutrient rich ocean waters make the marine environment equally productive.
Anyone planning a visit to Vancouver Island should note that it’s a big place.It’s 280 miles long by 60 miles wide. Look at a map of British Columbia and it looks small in comparison to the province as a whole. But British Columbia is huge – far bigger than the state of Texas – and Vancouver Island by itself is larger than nine U.S. states. It’s just too big to fully explore in a single trip.
Any trip to Vancouver Island should include a stay in Victoria, but beyond that it’s best to pick one or two areas and plan your visit around those. It’s also far too large and has far too many outstanding areas to cover in a single blog post. We’ll focus here on the area near the town Campbell River (including Quadra Island), Strathcona Provincial Park, and the west coast of the island near Tofino and Ucluelet.
Roughly midway up the east coast of the island, the town of Campbell River, the self-proclaimed “salmon capital of the world,” is a good base from which to explore the area. Fishermen have flocked to Campbell River since at least the 1880s. In the 1920s the Campbell River Tyee Club popularized the area with fishermen world-wide. Painter’s Lodge, opened in 1929, attracted Hollywood stars such as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, which further popularized the area.
Painter’s Lodge recently reopened, and offers lodging, event space, helicopter tours, whale watching, grizzly bear tours, and wildlife tours, in addition to guided fishing trips. Campbell River has a variety of other accommodations, including a nice campground at Elk Falls Provincial Park on the outskirts of town. In 2015 a suspension bridge was built just downstream of Elk Falls. Check out the video on the park website.
Campbell River has a variety of dining options for any budget. Anglers Dining Room at Dolphins Resort gets consistently good reviews. Ideal Cafe, Locals, and Quay West also get good reviews. Check out Beach Fire Brewing and Cornerstone Taphouse for good craft beers.
Only a short 15 minute ferry ride across Discovery Passage from Campbell River, Quadra Island has a full range of tourist facilities, including a number of cafes and lodging options if you desire a quieter, more rural environment than you’ll find in Campbell River. Quadra, largest of the Discovery Islands, provides the outdoor enthusiast with a network of hiking and mountain biking trails, kayak and boat launching facilities, and beach access points. The northern end of the island has several lakes and parks, the largest being Main Lakes Provincial Park. Hike, bike, paddle, or just take in the scenery and enjoy the quiet, natural area.
Strathcona Provincial Park, established in 1911, is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia. With the highest peaks on Vancouver Island and the highest waterfall in Canada, Strathcona’s scenery is hard to beat. Located 15 miles west of Campbell River, the majority of the park is wilderness.
Fabulous hiking trails can be found throughout the park. Paddling and fishing can be had at Buttle Lake. There are two fairly large campgrounds – Buttle Lake Campground (85 sites) and Ralph River Campground (75 sites). There are also three group camp areas available by reservation only, and a variety of back country campsites not accessible by road.
Accommodations a bit more upscale than camping can be found at Strathcona Park Lodge and Outdoor Education Centre on Buttle Lake a few miles outside of the park. You can rent small motor boats, canoes and kayaks, and stand up paddle boards there. For the more adventurous, there is a zip line and a high ropes course. And you can get information there about local hiking and mountain bike trails, and whitewater and sea kayaking opportunities.
On the west side of the island, the stretch of coastline from Ucluelet to Tofino is part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/pacificrim). The tamer sibling of the more remote and wild section of the park that includes the 47 mile West Coast Trail, the Long Beach unit of the park is easily accessible and has numerous small inlets, rocky coves, and beautiful sandy beaches.
Tofino has long been a popular tourist destination and can be crowded in the summer, but the other seasons also bring people to Tofino. Storm watchers flock to the area in the winter. Surfers come for Rip Curl Pro Tofino, the official Canadian surfing championship, in May, and the all-female Queen of the Peak competition in October. There are a variety of festivals throughout the year that bring people to Tofino, including ArtSplash in March, the Tofino Shorebird Festival in May, the Clayoquot Salmon Festival in August and September, and the Tofino Winterlights Festival in December.
Ucluelet, about 25 miles south of Tofino, is less touristy and more down to earth than its glitzier neighbor. The town is situated on a peninsula between Ucluth Inlet and the Pacific Ocean. It’s a popular fishing port and the rugged coastline has a number of secluded coves and beaches that, for my money, are about as pretty as it gets. Hike the easy 1.6 mile Wild Pacific Trail loop at the tip of the peninsula for some of the most spectacular scenery you’ll find anywhere on the island.
There is, of course, way more to Vancouver Island than this post covers, and it’s hard to go wrong regardless what part of the island you choose to explore. My wife and I will be making another trip to the island soon, perhaps this fall if the covid-19 pandemic eases and the border reopens.
Originally posted February 1, 2019
Updated and re-posted June 21, 2021
All photos © Alan K. Lee