West Coast Trail Closed in 2020
The West Coast Trail closed in 2020 due to Covid.
There are lots of options to getting to the West Coast Trail. The trail is linear so you have to arrange to get to the trailhead as well as from your exit trailhead. Most West Coast Trail hikers drive to one trailhead then bus to the other and hike back to their car. Others take the West Coast Express bus from Victoria to one of the trailheads and take the same bus back to Victoria.
Prologue- Chapter 1: The West Coast Trail
- Chapter 2: When to Hike & Fees
- Chapter 3: Trailheads
- Chapter 4: Getting There
- Chapter 5: Considerations
- Chapter 6: Campsites
- Chapter 7: Shipwrecks
- Chapter 8: Routes
Hike the West Coast Trail
Day 1 Pachena to Darling Day 2 Darling to Tsusiat Day 3 Tsusiat to Carmanah Day 4 Carmanah to Walbran Day 5 Walbran to Cullite Day 6 Cullite to Camper Day 7 Camper to Thrasher 
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
The West Coast Trail Express
West Coast Trail Express Inc. provides shuttle bus service(May 1 to September 30) from Victoria and Nanaimo to the trailheads and between the trailheads of the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca Trail. The West Coast Trail Bus picks up and drops off passengers at Victoria, Sooke, Port Renfrew, Gordon River, Mesachie Lake, Honeymoon Bay, Nanaimo, Nitinat, Pachena Bay, and Bamfield. In 2017 the prices were $110 Victoria to Pachena Bay, $90 Port Renfrew to Pachena Bay. These prices may seem expensive on first glance, however the route covers quite a distance of brutal logging roads. After you take into account of how much damage you saved on your own vehicle, the prices look pretty good!
West Coast Trail Express Bus (Victoria, Nanaimo, Bamfield, Nitinaht Junction, Port Renfrew)
Toll-free: 1-888-999-2288
Website: trailbus.com/
Reservations can be made using a Visa or Mastercard. Online - by using the secure reservation page online at trailbus.com Phone - by calling us toll free from anywhere in Canada at 1-888-999-2288, or at our Victoria office at 250-477-8700. Individuals can save 20%, groups can save 40%, on return fares by making return trip reservations. Changes to reservations can be made up to the reservation date with no penalty. Changes made within 10 days of the reservation date are subject to availability. If seats are not available for the new date, you can cancel your reservation ( the cancellation policy will apply ), or you can receive a credit for your fare which must be used in the same calendar year. Cancellations require 10 days notice to receive a complete refund(less a $5.00 administration fee). Cancellations received with less than 10 days notice will be charged 10% per day ( example: 9 days notice = 90% return, 8 days notice = 80% return, etc.) There will be no refund when no notice is given to the West Coast Trail Express Office. Hikers with reservations, finishing the trail any day before their return reservation date, and up to 2 days after, have priority seating on the bus. They are given seats on the bus before anyone without reservations. This is not a guarantee that these hikers will have a seat. If the bus is fully booked, and there are no seats available, these hikers will have to wait for the bus on the following day. We advise anyone who is going to be early or late to call our office and give us notice. The more notice we have, the more likely we can have seats available.
Ferry Services
Butch Jack Hiker Ferry Services (Gordon River Trailhead)
Tel: 250-647-5517 / 250-647-5434
Email: [email protected]
Lady Rose Marine Services (Passenger Ferry from Port Alberni to Bamfield)
Tel: 250-723-8313
Toll-free: 1-800-663-7192
Website: ladyrosemarine.com
Nitinaht Lake Water Taxi / Nitinaht Wilderness Charters / Parking at Nitinaht
Tel: 250-745-3509
WCT Information Centres
Information Centre
Tel: 250-728-3234 (Pachena Bay)
Tel: 250-647-5434 (Gordon River)
Ditidaht First Nations Visitor Centre and Store (Nitinaht Village)
Tel: 250-745-3999
Trail Accommodation
West Coast Trail Comfort Camping
Ditidaht First Nation – Ditidaht Development Corporation
Website: westcoasttrail.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 250-710-4453 (Hike)
Air Services
Pacific Seaplanes (Bamfield, Barclay Sound, Ucluelet, Tofino, Port Alberni, Port Renfrew, Nanaimo, Victoria and Vancouver)
Tel: 250-616-5858
Website: pacificseaplanes.biz
Taxi Services
Bamfield Taxi
Tel: 250-728-3363
Road Conditions
Road Reports
Toll-free: 1-800-550-4997 (automated)
Toll-free: 1-800-661-2324 (person answers)
Website: drivebc.ca
Weather & Marine Conditions
Weather Forecast
VHF Channel: 21 B
Tel: 250-726-3415 (automated forecast)
Website: weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca
Marine Weather
Website: weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/marine
Tides
Website: waterlevels.gc.ca/eng/find/zone/11
Fishing and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Information 24 hour line
Tel: 604-666-2828
Toll-free: 1-866-431-3474
Website: dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Hike the West Coast Trail
Prologue 1: The West Coast Trail 2: When to Hike & Fees 3: Trailheads 4: Getting There
5: Considerations 6: Campsites 7: Shipwrecks 8: Routes
The West Coast Trail Guide
When shipping in and out of Juan de Fuca Strait rapidly increased in the mid 1800's and alarming and costly number of ships were lost, the need for a inland trail was realized. It would take decades, and many more brutal and costly shipwrecks in the waters leading to ...
Read more
The West Coast Trail is incredible. Everything about it is amazing. From the wildly, incomprehensibly enormous trees to endless jaw dropping views. And it's tough. Very tough. It is a trail that shouldn't exist. Hiking trails always form out of the easiest route worn ...
Read more
The West Coast Trail hiking season is confined to just five months due to the dangerously stormy weather during the winter months. In the winter the days are short, tides are high and heavy rain and strong winds are frequent. Hiking the trail in the summer is tough ...
Read more
There are three entry/exit points for the West Coast Trail, however the midway entry/exit point at Nitinaht Narrows is for hikers only hiking part of the trail. The two main entry points are at Pachena Bay in the north(Bamfield) and Gordon River in the south(Port ...
Read more
There are lots of options to getting to the West Coast Trail. The trail is linear so you have to arrange to get to the trailhead as well as from your exit trailhead. Most West Coast Trail hikers drive to one trailhead then bus to the other and hike back to their car. ...
Read more
The West Coast Trail is a very tough hike. About one out of one hundred hikers don't make it, they need to be rescued. That's why there are so many fees. By the time you are done preparing and registering, you laugh at how hiking got so expensive. Isn't hiking usually ...
Read more
West Coast Trail Campsites
The Tsocowis Creek campsite at 16.5k has a decent beach with an excellent water source. Most hikers pass through the beach here on their way to Michigan if heading north or Tsusiat Falls if hiking south. The beach at Tsocowis is fairly decent and there is plenty of ...
Read more
The second, or second to last campsite on the West Coast Trail is at Darling River. Located just 1.6 kilometres(1 mile) from Michigan Creek, the Darling River campsite has an alright, sandy beach and a truly wonderful waterfall. Darling Falls pour into a ...
Read more
The campsite at Michigan Creek is the first or last campsite you will encounter on the West Coast Trail. First if you begin your hike at the Pachena trailhead(hiking south) and last if you begin in Port Renfrew(hiking north). The 12.1 kilometres(7.5 miles) ...
Read more
Cribs Creek at 42k of the West Coast Trail is a beautiful, clean, and surprisingly emerald coloured creek that flows through the messy, beach campsite. The pretty creek is about the only nice part about this campsite. The beach is not great, it smells of ageing seaweed, ...
Read More
West Coast Trail Shipwrecks
The shipwreck Cyrus is located just down from the West Coast Trail's Gordon River trailhead. If you stand at the wonderful, long, sandy beach that spans the width of Port San Juan and look out over ...
Read more
The Skagit, a 3 masted barkentine of 506 tons was wrecked on the reef in front of Clo-oose on what is now the West Coast Trail. This 156 foot ship was built in Port Ludlow, Washington in 1883 and was ...
Read more
At about 29 kilometres on the West Coast Trail you will pass the Vesta shipwreck. This 3 masted schooner of 286 tons was wrecked here on November 10th, 1897. This 128 foot long sailing ship was ...
Read more
The Varsity was a fishing boat of 90 tons, returning to Puget Sound from California on February 5th, 1940. In bad weather and stormy seas, she abruptly struck the shore, just a kilometre past, what is ...
Read more
The Raita shipwreck is located off the reefs at about the 33 kilometre mark of the West Coast Trail. Located just offshore and most remnants of this wreck are hidden under the waves. Some of the ...
Read more
The route from Darling River to Tsusiat Falls is just under 12 kilometres and quite a lot of that distance can be hiked on the beach. From Darling River you can take an inland route or walk along the ...
Read more
Day 7 on the West Coast Trail from Camper Bay to Thrasher Cove or further along to the Gordon River trailhead gives you two route options. After three kilometres of very challenging rainforest ...
Read more
Day 6 on the West Coast Trail is another short, yet brutally challenging day hiking between Cullite Cove and Camper Bay. The ladders and mud sections are numerous as you snake your way through the ...
Read more
The gap between official West Coast Trail campsites is quite large after Tsusiat Falls at 25k. The next campsite heading south is at Cribs Creek at 42k, followed by Carmanah Creek at 46k. ...
Read more