Pacific Rim National Park Reserve – Part One (Vacation 2017)

After our stay in Ucluelet, the next stop on our journey was Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. There are three distinct parts to PRNPR: Long Beach Unit, Broken Group Islands and the West Coast Trail.  As we only explored the Long Beach Unit, we will be sharing some resources for discovering the other two portions of the Park (see the end of this article for links). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed at the Green Point Campground (Long Beach Unit). The campground is tucked on the ocean side of the park reserve and ensconced in old growth forest. The roads in the campground are narrow. Some of the sites will accommodate large RVs (35′ plus). Be sure to check out details on the Reservation site as the turning radius’ in the campground are not as big as one may be accustomed too.

 

 

The campground has two beach access points – both are a bit of a hike down easy terrain. The campground also has a beautiful theatre (Green Point Theatre) on site, where they host a variety of interpretive programs throughout the peak summer. We enjoyed two programs – “Bears, Wolves & Cougars” – a film and talk about the three largest carnivores that reside in the park and how we can coexist with them. Our son took this talk extremely seriously. We will be sharing his thoughts on the talk and what he took away from it on our Kid’s Corner. The other was a shoreline walk where we learned so much about our ocean and the beaches on the west coast and some of the visible critters who live there (if you know how and where to look!

Reservations at Green Point are necessary during the summer. We booked our campground one hour after reservations opened in January, so we secured a much coveted ocean-side campsite and although we had an obstructed view (see above photo), we had the full benefit of the ocean sound and were even fortunate enough to had the remains of an old growth (approximately 600 years old) tree stump in our site! Noise does not transfer from site to site so it gives you a very secluded camping experience. The campground has a maximum stay policy of seven days – done to allow many to experience this unique and breathtaking landscape. It should be on everyone’s bucket list.

The park also has a few other hidden gems tucked away in it’s trees. We look forward to sharing them with you as they are worth the drive and hike to take in their beauty!

 

 

Explore some further reading about the West Coast Trail and the Broken Group Islands.
1. Parks Canada Information on the Broken Group Islands & the West Coast Trail
2. BC Parks blog post about the Islands
3. More info on the Islands from Vancouver Magazine
4. A lovely write up about a hiker’s trip on the West Coast Trail
5. Another great write up on the WCT

 

*The information above, has been provided as courtesy as we adored the parts of the park we explored and want to encourage others to explore these more remote points in the park. We are not affiliated with any of the linked sites.
**Please note that travelling to these remote parts require specific permits & permissions from Parks Canada.

 

Originally published September 26, 2017