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British Columbia Pacific Rim
Nowhere else on earth has the meeting of land and sea created the magnificent beauty of Canada's Pacific Coast. The magnificent Pacific Rim National Park is the only national park entirely on Vancouver Island, providing protection for substantial rain forests and an amazing marine environment on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The full force of the mighty Pacific Ocean mercilessly pounds the constantly changing shores of this rugged coastline.
The territory now known as the Pacific Rim National Park has a significant history, having been inhabited by the Nuu-chah-nulth people for thousands of years. A rich natural heritage evolved as Vancouver Island became isolated from the mainland, retaining a great diversity of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish species.
The unique Pacific Rim National Park encompasses a total area of 49,962 hectares of land and ocean in three separate geographic units - Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands and the West Coast Trail. Features of the park include long sandy beaches, an island archipelago, old-growth coastal temperate rainforest, and significant Nuu-chah-nulth archaeological sites.
Location: The Pacific Rim region is located on the wild southwest coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Access to the Pacific Rim is on paved Highway 4, which heads west from Parksville, travelling through Port Alberni and passed Sproat Lake. Estimated travel times to the Tofino-Ucluelet junction from: Victoria 5 hours, Nanaimo 3 hours, Parksville 2-1/2 hours, and Port Alberni 1-1/2 hours.
The best known and most visited of the 3 regions, Long Beach is famous for the long sandy beaches of Schooner Cove and Wickaninnish and Florencia Bays, stretching between the two villages of Tofino and Ucluelet.
The 13,715 hectare unit incorporates numerous rocky points and headlands, offshore islets and the mudflats of Grice Bay, an important wintering habitat and stopover for migrating waterfowl.
The impressive Green Point Campground caters to campers and RVs and, along with the Wickaninnish Centre and Parks Canada, provides valuable and interesting heritage learning programs on cultural features and the natural ecosystem of the Pacific Rim National Park. Long Beach caters to visitors seeking to relax in the picnic areas, comb the beaches or stroll along the trails and boardwalks.
Radar Hill, just south of Tofino, provides a great view of Tofino Inlet, Meares Island and Gowlland Rocks. Naturalists watch whales from shore or follow the self guided Shorepine Bog Trail to study the moss, plants and interesting bugs found in a bog environment.
Visitors can drive the Pacific Rim Highway (Highway 4) from Port Alberni to Long Beach, 108 km of paved winding mountain highway. Busses run between Port Alberni and Ucluelet/Tofino, or the more adventurous can hop aboard the MV MV Frances Barkley for the trip down the Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound to Ucluele
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