West Coast Trail

The West Coast Trail is Canada's most demanding multi-day coastal backpack — 75 km along the rugged southwest coast of Vancouver Island in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The trail follows what was once known as the "Graveyard of the Pacific," a stretch of coast notorious for shipwrecks, and was built by the Canadian government in 1907 as a life-saving trail for stranded mariners. Today it's preserved by Parks Canada as one of the great coastal walks of the world.

The trail is walked in 5 to 8 days, most commonly 6, in either direction. From the northern trailhead at Pachena Bay (near Bamfield), the trail follows old-growth coastal rainforest along the cliff top, then drops to the beach at intervals — Tsusiat Falls (a beachfront waterfall, the trail's most famous campsite), Nitinaht Narrows (a mandatory ferry across a tidal channel, where a working First Nations community sells fresh crab from a boat), and a chain of surf-pounded beaches and headland traverses down to the Gordon River and the southern trailhead at Port Renfrew. The 70 fixed ladders (up to 12 m tall, climbing in and out of side gulches), 130 bridges, and four cable cars over creek crossings are the trail's signature engineering.

Reservations are mandatory through Parks Canada (open in January for the May–September season, sell out within hours for popular dates) and capped at 60 hikers starting per day from each end. There's a $250 reservation fee plus the two ferry fares ($25 each). The trail is open mid-May to September 30; outside that window it's closed and dangerous. The terrain is the famously challenging part — slick boardwalks, deep mud, ladders, beach hiking over slippery cobbles. Tide tables matter: several sections are passable only at low tide, so most hikers plan their daily mileage around the tide schedule. Pack the toughest rain gear you own.