Juan de Fuca Strait is the 154km long and 16km to 32km wide stretch of ocean that separates Vancouver Island from the northwest corner of Washington State. The international boundary between Canada and the United State runs down the centre of the strait. It was named in 1787 by the English explorer Charles Barkley for Greek navigator Juan de Fuca, who sailed in a Spanish expedition in 1592 and was possibly the first western explorer to encounter the strait.
West Coast Trail Shipwrecks
Alaskan at 4k Soquel at 5k Sarah at 7k Becherdass-Ambiadass at 8k Michigan at 12k Uzbekistan at 13.8k Varsity at 17.6k Valencia at 18.3k Janet Cowan at 19k Robert Lewers at 20k Woodside at 20.2k Uncle John at 26.2k Vesta at 29k Raita at 33k Skagit at 34.2k Santa Rita at 37k Dare at 39k Lizzie Marshall at 47k Puritan at 48.5k Wempe Brothers at 49.4k Duchess of Argyle at 58k John Marshall at 62.3k William Tell at 64.2 Revere at 69k Cyrus at 75k
West Coast Trail Campsites
Pachena Bay Campground Michigan Creek at 12k Darling River at 14k Orange Juice Creek at 15k Tsocowis Creek at 16.5k Klanawa River at 23k Tsusiat Falls at 25k Cribs Creek at 42k Carmanah Creek at 46k Bonilla Creek at 48k Walbran Creek at 53k Cullite Cove at 58k Camper Bay at 62k Thrasher Cove at 70k Pacheedaht Campground
By the late 1800’s Juan de Fuca Strait was the main commercial trading route for ships for western Canada and much of northwestern United States. Nearly every major trading nation in the world sent ships in and out of Juan de Fuca Strait. Two lighthouses were constructed to guard the entrance, the Cape Flattery Lighthouse in 1857 on the US side and Carmanah Point Lighthouse in 1891 on Vancouver Island. The Umatilla Lightship was added south of Cape Flattery in 1897 and the Swiftsure Lightship northwest of Cape Flattery in 1909. The Pachena Point Lighthouse was constructed in 1908 just 24 kilometers up the coast from Carmanah Point Lighthouse. Even with this concentration of lighthouses and lightships the brutal weather, changing currents and fog were still too overpowering to many ships and shipwrecks along the Graveyard of the Pacific continued for decades. The picture below is near the 32km marker of the West Coast Trail, just 12 kilometres west of the Carmanah Point Lighthouse which is at 44km. The view is looking across the mouth of Juan de Fuca Strait and the point of land in the distance is the United States and Cape Flattery is just beyond the tip.
Vancouver Island’s West Coast 1762-1962
Vancouver Island’s West Coast 1762-1962 by George Nicholson is a fantastic history that gives you a window to a staggering array of events that occurred during those two eventful centuries. The amount of research that went into this book must have been colossal. Dozens and dozens of beautiful illustrations bring the people and places to life. Published in 1965 after decades of living in the area, Nicholson is able to write about events he was part of. Other events that happened before his time, he is able to describe in detail only possible by living in the area and knowing every feature of the land. His sources are from the written journals of the many explorers in the area. You know you are in for a wild ride from the first sentence of the book. “The history of British Columbia begins at Nootka”. Along with the wonderful history of the west coast along and beyond the West Coast Trail, two of the West Coast Trail shipwrecks are written in vivid detail about. The tragic story of the Valencia disaster and the Janet Cowan shipwreck are told in two separate chapters. Also, the Uzbekistan shipwreck that occurred at the outflow of Darling River is briefly mentioned. One of the photos in the book is of the Uzbekistan shortly after breaking up on the reef and is an amazing view of the wreck you tend to never see. All the other well-known West Coast Trail shipwrecks are mentioned in one chapter titled, “Forty Wrecks, One for Every Mile”. Tsusiat Falls has a chapter devoted to it as well as the Carmanah Point Lighthouse and the Cape Flattery Lighthouse. Vancouver Island’s West Coast 1762-1962 can be found online on Amazon and many other online book stores. Vancouver Island’s West Coast 1762-1962 continued here...
More West Coast Trail Glossary A to Z
West Coast Trail A to Z
The West Coast Trail by Day
Explore BC Hiking Destinations!
The West Coast Trail
Victoria Hiking Trails
Clayoquot Hiking Trails
Whistler Hiking Trails
Squamish Hiking Trails
Vancouver Hiking Trails