The West Coast Trail

This stretch of the Vancouver Island coast wrecked so many ships that in 1907 a life-saving trail was cut along it so survivors could walk out, and that path is now one of the hardest and best-known long walks in North America. Seventy-five kilometres run between Pachena Bay and Gordon River through rainforest, across suspension bridges and hand-pulled cable cars, up and down more than seventy ladder systems, and along tidal shelves that are only passable at low water. Sea lions haul out on the rocks, grey whales pass offshore, and rusting boilers and anchors from the wrecks lie on the beaches. It runs through the traditional territories of the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht.

History

The Pacheedaht, Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Nuu-chah-nulth have lived here for more than 4,000 years, using trails for trade and travel. In the 1800s a telegraph line was built between Victoria and Cape Beale, and after the wreck of the SS Valencia in January 1906, one of almost 500 wrecks around Vancouver Island, the government built the Dominion Lifesaving Trail in 1907, with a lighthouse at Pachena Point, shelters every 8 km with telegraphs and provisions, and a lifeboat station at Bamfield; the trail became part of Pacific Rim National Park in 1973 (Wikipedia, West Coast Trail).

What's there

• The ladders - more than seventy systems climbing the gullies.
• Cable cars - hand-pulled crossings over the rivers.
• The tidal shelves - beach walking passable only at low water.
• Shipwreck remains - boilers and anchors scattered along the shore.

When to go

The trail is open roughly May to September and closed the rest of the year. June to August is driest, though rain is likely in any month. Reservations open in January and the popular start dates go immediately. Every hiker attends an orientation before setting out.

Good to know

This is genuinely difficult: mud to the knee, slick ladders, heavy packs and tide tables that dictate the day, with a significant number of hikers evacuated each season for sprains and breaks. Evacuation is slow and expensive. Permits are capped and hard to get. Anyone treating it as a scenic coastal walk is in for a shock.

Nearby

Pacific Rim and Tofino are north; Victoria is two and a half hours from Port Renfrew.

Key facts