The Lighthouse Loop Trail – Vancouver Island

When ‘Oyster’ Martin moved to Vancouver Island in the 1980’s he fell in love with the rugged landscape and rocky headlands of the west coast that he saw from his fishing boat each day and had a dream to create a trail along the coastline that could be accessed and enjoyed by all. Forty years later that vision has grown into the Wild Pacific Trail and today I’m walking the Lighthouse Loop section, which happens to be the first section that was completed back in 1999.

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The weather has been kind to us in British Columbia and after the usual morning mist it’s another dry and sunny day as Mish and I park up at Otter Lot car park just outside the small town of Ucluelet. Leaving the van we follow a short connecting path upwards through the forest of He-Tin-Kis park to join up with the main loop trail.

The trail works its way through the ancient trees of the coastal rainforest and we walk through a lush green corridor surrounded by ferns and mosses with tall majestic pines and red cedars rising high above us.

This main loop section of the wild pacific trail was made to be wheelchair accessible and as such makes for easy walking along a wide flat compacted gravel path. Before long there are glimpses through the greenery down to Terrace Beach.

A little further on we divert off the main trail and climb down a steep wooden staircase that has been skillfully attached to the headland and gives access to the small patch of sand that is He-Tin-Kis beach. I say sand but in effect it’s small grains of the black rock that make up the jagged coastline worn down over countless millennia by the battering of the sea. Mish looks for treasure in the black ‘sand’ whilst I listen to the tide lapping gently on the shore. Like the beaches in Tofino, He-Tin-Kis beach has great driftwood logs, worn smooth by the ocean lying around and I’m fascinated by them, how old are they, were they once whole trees, how long have they been floating in the ocean and how far have they traveled.  

It isn’t always as calm as we have it today. Looking out to the ocean its mind boggling to think that the next land you come across is Japan, 4,500 miles away across the vast Pacific. And storms and hurricane force winds regularly batter this coastline in the winter months as the below video shows

After mooching on the beach for a while we climb back up the steps and carry on around the loop. Stopping at Inspiration Point another couple point out a sea otter far out in Barkley Sound. We watch it through Mish’s binoculars but my trusty LUMIX TZ200, perfect for walking up hills and taking landscapes isn’t quite up to the job of taking meaningful pictures of wildlife at those distances. 

So we watch in real time as it floats along, characteristically on its back using its chest seemingly as a dining table. There are also lot’s of Grey squirrels around. Like the U.K. these critters are non native to the island but have taken over from the smaller native red squirrels.

The trail continues around the headland, in and out of forest with views of rocky coves and the sea and at the halfway point Amphitrite Point Lighthouse is reached.

Named after the Greek goddess of the sea It was built in 1906 after the cargo ship, Pass of Melfort was driven onto rocks nearby in a storm with the loss of all hands. The original wooden structure was replaced in 1915 with the solid, squat lighthouse we see today.

Leaving the lighthouse we walk around the southern section of the loop. At this southern end of the peninsular we come across red cedars that have been twisted way out of shape and moulded into unnatural curves by the sheer power and force of nature that they endure on this wild exposed coastline. Krummholz effect apparently, click if you want to read more.

The trail is well made and well served with benches and viewpoints set into quiet corners looking out over the Pacific where both mind and body can be refreshed with quiet contemplation or lunch. Crossing the main car park we arrive at one of the newer features of the lighthouse loop trail, a three hundred metre walk through a cedar swamp. 

The path has been built over the bog with springy boardwalk sections and meanders its way through the delicate ferns, plants, mosses and small trees with explanatory signs explaining to the layman what you are looking at. Walking through a bog with dry feet is certainly a first for me.

After the bog we rejoin the main trail and enjoy more forest walking before heading back to the van through He-Tin-Kis park.

Route Map with Geolocated Pictures, Walk Stats and 3D Flyover Video Below