A short ferry ride takes you to multiple islands off the coast of British Columbia. The biggest island being Vancouver Island; which I feel I still have barely scratched the surface of.

The ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo

For years, I have been wanting to go visit Tofino as I had always heard it was the “Hawaii of BC”. I thought instead of just going to Tofino that I should add a couple of extra days to spend elsewhere on the route so that I could check out some parks and beaches along the way.

The first day of my road trip I stayed in Parksville, which is only about a 30-minute drive from Nanaimo, BC (the city you ferry into). I got in early and decided to hit up 3 parks that are all off of the Alberni highway; which is the highway you take to head towards Tofino. These 3 parks were all quite close to each other so I was able to go to all 3 within a few hours time.

My first stop was Englishman River falls, then Little Qualicum falls, followed by Cathedral Grove.

Englishman River Falls

This park has some really neat massive waterfalls that pour down into a canyon. The park offers 3km of easy, minimal elevation hiking trails. The falls are only a few minutes walk from the main parking lot so in the interest of time I mainly just checked out the waterfalls and the area around them and then took off to my next destination. The park was practically deserted when I went at 9:00 am so that was a bonus! The falls pictured below looks the coolest (I think) while viewing them from the bridge as you can them spilling down between the cliffs. You can find the entrance to the park >>HERE<<.

Little Qualicum Falls

This park was my favourite for the day. I thought the waterfalls looked really neat, especially the one pictured below (Upper Qualicum falls) that had one waterfall spilling into a big pool which then spills down through a second waterfall into Qualicum river. At this park, you can find 6km of beginner rated trails/stairs through the park that forms a loop. I did half of the loop starting left to Upper Qualicum falls and turned back around because I was confused at the time which direction to go. Next time I go back I will be sure to check out the Lower Falls. For a detailed post about accomplishing the full loop and a trail map check out this POST by Outdoor Vancouver.

Cathedral Grove

Cathedral Grove consists of many beautiful giant old growth douglas-fir trees and red cedar trees (including the “big tree”). It can be found in MacMillan Provincial Park and is literally right off of the Alberni highway >>DIRECTIONS HERE<<. Parking was a bit of a nightmare and because half of the trail is on one side of the highway and the other half is on the other side, you actually have to cross the highway to be able to see both sides of the park (a little sketchy). There is no real traffic control which surprised me so be careful in this area both as a pedestrian and a driver. This park is very beautiful but honestly, I enjoyed driving through it more than walking through it, as this was probably the most touristy area I went to on my whole trip. Regardless it’s definitely worth the stop. The trails on either side both form loops and are short easy walking trails.

The next day I headed to Ucluelet for a little hike along the Wild Pacific Trail called Lighthouse Loop.

Light House Loop

This trail is part of a few trail options along the Wild Pacific trail. The Wild Pacific trail extends 8km down the coast in Ucluelet, BC and has a couple of different shorter trail options. Check out the trail map >>HERE<<. Lighthouse loop is a 2.6 km loop, an easy but beautiful trail to a Lighthouse along the coast that loops back up to the parking lot where you start. I started the trail at the parking lot of Coast Guard road which you can see on the trail map. The Wild Pacific Trail is a great spot for looking out for various different marine life. The rugged coastline and crashing waves were an amazing site to see and unfortunately, I didn’t end up seeing any whales or other marine life this time.

After my time in Ucluelet, I met up with an awesome group of gals through a trip I booked through “Women Who Explore” in Tofino, BC. We had some fun adventures including hiking to the Canso Bomber Plane Crash site, surf lessons, and beach exploration!

Canso Bomber Plane Crash Site

This hike was really cool! I found it so crazy that we got to see this plane that crashed back in WW2. It was really neat. Not only that, we also hit an old building too along the way that was super creepy and had some cool spray paintings on the outside of it. After you hike in and get to this creepy building (which I’m sure has some historical significance as well) there are 2 trail options that will both take you to the plane crash site. The steeper trail goes down from around the middle of the building and the easier trail goes down directly past the building. We took the easier side down and the steeper trail on the way back. The markers can be a little confusing at times. Look for orange tape and rope. The trail is not super well maintained and is very muddy! Wear proper hiking boots. The trail is mainly flat (except for the one steeper section) but more technical in the sense of having to navigate through mud and tree branches. The trail is 5km total with only 35m elevation gain. You have to park at Radar Hill, pay for parking and then walk along the highway for about 10 minutes to the trailhead. Check out >>THIS SITE<< for a detailed map and more description of the Crash site.

Creepy building on the way

We found the plane! YAY!

After my trip in Tofino, I stayed in Port Alberni on the way back for a night. The next day I checked out a really cool little hike called “Hole in the Wall”.

Hole in the Wall

This hike is only about 10 minutes into this magical spot! You can find it right off of the highway across the street from Coombs Country Candy store. I recommend parking on that side of the road by the cement barrier (if the parking isn’t already taken) otherwise if you park at the candy store you will have to cross the highway like I did which was super sketchy! The directions are >>HERE<<. When walking in keep right at the first fork at the beginning of the trail and then left at the next fork in the trail. This hole through the shale cliff was man-made years ago to feed a pipe through as this used to be the towns main water source. The pipe has been taken out and what remains is a unique site to see. It is pretty cool that there now is a waterfall flowing through this man-made hole. Take some time to walk around on both sides of the creek as people have built many inukshuks with all of the stones!

Those are all of the hikes I ended up checking out on my journey to Tofino but there are a ton of other ones to check out as well! Next time I am in Tofino I want to check out the different Rainforest trails that contain boardwalks through the rainforest and usually lead out to nice quiet beach areas! These trails are part of the Pacific Rim National Park. I also want to check out Lone Cone trail which you do need to boat over to the trailhead and then hike up to some amazing views! To find a list of more trails out in Tofino click >>HERE<<.

I hope I have inspired you to take a road trip out to Tofino if you have never been! Below are some photos of various beaches I visited. Happy exploring!

Sunset at Parksville Community Park

Qualicum Beach

a foggy walk at MacKenzie Beach

Surfing at Cox Bay Beach