Vancouver Island
The outer coast, reached by ferry and then by a great deal more driving - Pacific Rim on the west side and Cape Scott at the northern tip, where the walking is short and easy and the getting there is the entire difficulty.
2 trail guides · 7 h 30 min from Vancouver
Vancouver Island inverts the usual relationship between effort and remoteness. San Josef Bay is a 5 km round trip on a flat, wide, well-built path, and it is one of the most genuinely remote beaches you can reach in British Columbia. The difficulty is 64 km of shot rock between you and the trailhead, and roughly two hours of driving it.
This is why the drive times on these guides look absurd next to a North Shore trail. They are honest. Everything here is a ferry plus most of a day, and both trails on this page are worth planning a trip around rather than squeezing into one.
What the region is good for
Sea stacks and beach walking. San Josef Bay's stacks at the second beach are the reason people make the drive to Cape Scott, and the walk out to them is easy enough for anyone who can manage 5 km on the flat.
Storm season. The west coast in November through March is a legitimate destination rather than an off-season compromise. Radar Hill is the highest ground in the Long Beach Unit and it is a five-minute walk from the car.
Old growth without a scramble. The forest on the approach to San Josef is the point as much as the beach is.
Access notes
Budget for the ferry properly. Reservations on the Horseshoe Bay and Tsawwassen sailings matter in summer, and a missed sailing on a north island trip costs you the day.
The Cape Scott road is the real gate. It is roughly 64 km of active logging road, loaded trucks have right of way, and you want a full-size spare and the tools to fit it. The San Josef trailhead lot is on Western Forest Products land and is provided as a courtesy - BC Parks states plainly that it is not a secured facility.
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve charges a day-use fee, collected at the park gate and enforced at the Long Beach lots including Radar Hill. Cape Scott requires camping permits for overnight stays.
Seasons
| Season | Reality |
|---|---|
| May-Sep | The practical season for Cape Scott, and when BC Parks collects camping fees. July and August are the warmest, busiest and foggiest. |
| Oct-Apr | Radar Hill and the Long Beach Unit stay fully open. This is storm-watching season and the coast is at its most dramatic. |
| Year round | Neither trail on this page holds snow. The limits here are road conditions, ferry sailings and daylight, not the trail surface. |
Vancouver Island trail guides
Every guide below is a trail I have personally hiked, with the date I was last there on the page.
- ▲ 30 m1 kmVancouver IslandFee required: Fee
Radar Hill, Pacific Rim: A Five-Minute Walk You Should Still Do
A drive-up viewpoint with a five-minute walk attached, and worth the stop anyway - it is the highest ground in the Long Beach Unit and the only place on this coast where you can roll a wheelchair to a Korean War memorial.
- Distance: 1 km
- Elevation gain: 30 m
- Difficulty: Easy
Vancouver IslandPermit required: PermitSan Josef Bay: A 2.5 km Walk at the End of 64 km of Gravel
The easiest genuinely remote beach in British Columbia, and the difficulty is entirely in the 64 km of shot rock you drive to reach it - budget two hours for that road and carry a real spare.
- Distance: 5 km
- Elevation gain: 10 m
- Difficulty: Easy