Walking the Tonquin Trail on Vancouver Island

It’s a six hour drive from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia on Vancouver Island to our campsite in Tofino and my nerves are tested on the narrow bendy bit of the Pacific Rim Highway beyond Port Alberni. I am after all, driving on the wrong side of the road and sitting on the wrong side of the vehicle. The journey passes without incident though and as we park up at Tsawaak RV campground a gossamer thin sea mist is drifting in from the ocean obscuring sight and muffling sound. The cold dampness on our skin is refreshing though after the heat of Vancouver and Victoria where temperatures were in the mid 30’c.

Daylight arrives but the campsite is still cocooned in its blanket of mist. By midday however the sun’s warmth burns it away and blue skies start to appear. The Tonquin Trail starts in Tofino town but I’ve had a look at the map and see it’s easily reached from the beach near our campsite so I decide to make the most of the good weather and stretch the legs after the long drive of yesterday. 

Heading down to MacKenzie beach I pass a partially built Cedar Canoe, discovered in a mud bank in the seventies. It’s reckoned to be about two hundred years old and was carved by the Tla-o-qui-aht people, who were just one of fourteen First Nations community’s living along the west coast of Vancouver Island in the days long before MacKenzie came along and renamed their beach. The beaches original Tla-o-qui-aht name is actually ‘tinwis’ which translates as calm beach. In the grounds of the hotel bordering the beach there is a commemorative Totem Pole.

The treatment of the indigenous, First Nations people of Canada, first by European settlers and later by Government institutions sadly follows a pattern repeated in many colonial countries. It was shameful for the original settlers and past Governments and painful for the indigenous population who had to suffer under unjust laws and practices.

I read ‘I heard the owl call my name’ whilst in British Columbia which gave me an insight into events I knew little about and this blog is not a place to explore them but here’s a link to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada mentioned on the commemorative plaque should you wish to read more.

MacKenzie beach is indeed very calm today, the tide is out revealing a large expanse of flat sand with several small green island outcrops scattered in the bay just offshore.

I head north along the beach, find the footpath and am instantly taken into another world.

BC is a land of trees, millions if not billions of them. Tall and majestic ancient red cedars, lodgepole pines and Douglas firs carpet the land. They are literary everywhere. And on the coast, the trees don’t give an inch to the encroaching sea. There are no sand dunes, coastal fringes or grassy headlands here, the trees occupy the land all the way down to the high water mark and if they could, I’m sure would carry right on into the ocean.

So one second I’m on the beach and with two steps I’m immersed in the rich greenery of ancient coastal rainforest surrounded by leaves, ferns, bushes and bark. As I move away from the ocean the constant sound and movement of the sea is replaced by the silence and stillness of the forest. Musty earth and pine replaces the smell of salt air and the blazing sun now dapples in shadows, dancing on the trail.

The trail is a good, well made gravel path, slightly alien to its surroundings but hard wearing and better than having the ground worn away to the tree roots by a multitude of boots.

I join a boardwalk which takes me to Middle beach. Smaller and less frequented than MacKenzie beach, I sit on one of the many driftwood tree trunks, tossed and worn smooth by years of tidal battering and have a bite to eat in the ever warming sunshine watching thin wisps of sea mist drifting inland over the sand.

Vancouver Island, the west coast in particular because of its damp and foggy climate for most of the year, is a haven of old growth rainforest and as I walk along I’m surrounded by tall and mighty cedars, spruces and firs. These trees are hundreds of years old, some of them maybe a thousand and walking among them is a humbling experience, a reminder that life is bigger than my own circumstances and an opportunity to breathe out, slow down, calm the mind chatter and reset.

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness” John Muir

Between the trees I catch glimpses of the Pacific and before long I reach a viewing platform where I look down on Third beach, which is its name as well as being my third beach. It’s a small sandy beach about the size of two tennis courts set in a rocky cove surrounded by steep ground.

After Third beach the path divides and I take the inland loop path to Tonquin Beach where a steep wooden staircase takes me down onto the beach itself.

Tonquin beach is only a short walk from Tofino so there are plenty of people around but it doesn’t feel crowded and I find a quiet corner at the south end to listen to the tide and admire the views across to Wickaninnish Island.

After climbing back up the staircase I take the coastal loop path for my return journey and once on the headland soon arrive at a magnificent double viewing platform overlooking the beach and giving views north and south along the coastline. It also has a bench so I put my feet up, eat, drink and gaze out over the deep blue.

I retrace my outward journey back but just before MacKenzie beach there are a series of mini trails with names like Jason’s and Yana’s trail that I want to explore. It turns out these have been created by nearby Middle Beach Lodge to provide an opportunity for guests to enjoy some (very) short walks in the rainforest.

Dropping back on to MacKenzie beach I feel very satisfied having enjoyed what was my first walk in Canada in such a beautiful and unique environment. I catch up with Mish who has come down to the beach and sit on the rocks whilst she does some beach combing before heading back to the van for dinner.

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

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