Camping on Vancouver Island
Camping on Vancouver Island is a must for Canadians and visitors alike. The island has a unique majesty about it and contains an impressive array of natural environments that keep the camping experience exciting and refreshing. From lush, moss-covered rainforests, idyllic lakes and rugged, rocky coastlines, too easy drive-in campsites and backcountry walk-in campsites, Vancouver Island more than satisfies the camping senses.
The island itself has about 25 Provincial Park Campgrounds, one National Park and plenty of private options. For those of us based in Victoria, there are many campsites within an easy driving distance that provide perfect weekend excursions. This article will focus on the stunning Juan de Fuca Provincial Park as well as talking a little about the pros and cons of wild camping.
Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is a stunning stretch of coastline on south west Vancouver Island containing 7 campsites and the popular Juan de Fuca Trail. The Juan de Fuca Trail (known to my partner and I as The Poor Person’s West Coast Trail) is a fabulous 47km trail beginning at China Beach, West of Sooke, and ending at Botanical Beach, near Port Renfrew. It is a reasonably difficult trail (the difficulty factor being increased by the amount of mud on the trail which seems to be a constant regardless of rainfall) which can take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to hike. All campsites can be reached for weekend camping depending on how far you’re happy to walk.
The four beach campsites (Mystic, Bear, Chin and Sombrio) are particularly magical owing to the brilliant way that the forest meets the shore, with huge, majestic Spruce, Hemlock and Douglas Firs towering over the rocky beach and creating perfect little tent spots, shaded from either sun or rain depending on the weather.
All campsites, whether drive or walk-in, include food caches, toilets, and are located within convenient walking distance to water sources (which should be filtered). Campfires are generally allowed at these campsites and other than China Beach Campground which can be reserved online, campsites are run a first-come, first-served basis which uses self-registration envelopes at trail heads (bring exact cash for all anticipated nights).
China Beach Campground
China Beach Campground is not a part of the Juan de Fuca Trail although it is within Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. It is also not actually on China Beach, being located in the forest a 20 min walk from Second Beach. However, it makes a great first night if you’ve traveled a long way to start the trail and don’t want to walk Mystic Beach.
It’s also a fantastic weekend camping destination from Victoria, containing 78 drive-in campsites and being only an hour’s drive from the city. A 1km trail of steps and gravel takes you down to the fine sand beach which is an ideal picnic spot.
Mystic Beach Campsite
Mystic Beach is truly mystical. It is located along a 2.5km trail from the Juan de Fuca trailhead and car park, so makes a perfect weekend camping destination if you don’t mind carrying your stuff a short way! Popular with surfers and Instagrammers alike for its powerful surf, majestic beauty and aptly positioned rope swing, its stunning sunsets provide the perfect backdrop to fulfill all of your camping goals.
Arriving earlier in the day is beneficial as there are a limited number of spots off the rocks, and, unless you have a heavy duty inflatable mattress, sleeping on the rocks is not the most comfortable of experiences. However, my memories of Mystic Beach center around the shear noise of the waves at high tide. High tide was around 2 am on the night that we stayed, and the sound of waves crashing up and down the rocks a mere meter from our tent had me sleeping lightly to say the least.
Bear Beach Campsite and Chin Beach Campsite
Bear and Chin Beach sites are not easily accessible by the road and are usually only used by Juan de Fuca walkers. But, they are small and magical as a result of their more wild atmospheres. There is a kinship that develops among hikers when you are the only people sharing a campsite. When you arrive at a beach with road access and see day walkers or drive-in campers with their radios blasting and boxes of glass beer bottles, you feel like a different species.
We stayed at Chin Beach for a cozy, soft-surfaced night on the forest floor and slept soundly knowing that we were safe from the high tide. The couple in the tent next to us had brought with them a bladder of cask wine which made me very jealous and resolve to do that for our next trip!
Sombrio Beach Campsite(s)
Sombrio Beach is the most popular camping place for weekend campers along the Juan de Fuca trail as it has the closest road access (250m). For this reason, it is often busy but the size of the beach means that there should usually be plenty of space for everyone. It is a vast rocky shoreline with tidal pools and the extravagant sized driftwood that is characteristic of the region.
Little Kuitsche Creek Campsite and Payzant Creek Campsite
Parkinson Creek trailhead is located between Little Kuitsche and Payzant, adding these two forest camps to the list of possible weekend destinations. A short path from Little Kuitsche leads down to a swath of large rocks which forms this rugged beach, good for sitting on and enjoying the vibes but definitely not safe for swimming. This was the first time the sun came out for us so we spent a glorious afternoon drying our stuff on the rocks.
Both forest camps are usually only used by Juan de Fuca walkers to bridge the distance between Sombrio and Botanical Beach, but if you want a quieter night away than the drive-in campsites with access to a stunning trail, these camps could be a good option. However, drainage is not ideal and the sites are rather sodden after rain, so, put a plastic sack under your sleeping mat if your tent isn’t completely waterproof!
Other Weekend Camping Options in Vancouver Island:
- French Beach Provincial Park
- Jordan River Regional Park
- Bamberton Provincial Park
- Island View Beach Regional Park
- Goldstream Provincial Park
The Principles and ‘Leave No Trace’ Camping
Wild camping, also known as free camping, freedom camping or wilderness camping, has many positive and negative connotations attached to it. Unfortunately, with the number of people in the world today who enjoy camping, balancing the pleasures of wild camping against the negative environmental impacts is a difficult one to strike. There are many countries in the world that allow wild camping including most countries in Europe and the UK. Norway and Sweden, in particular, live by the principal of Allemannsretten, the public right to roam.
In order to cope with the growing popularity of wild camping, principals such as leave no trace camping have arisen. Of course, the concept of leaving no trace should be used in any camping situation, but they are particularly relevant when wild camping.
The main idea is to leave the environment exactly as you found it. The seven principles of Leave No Trace according to www.leavenotrace.ca are:
- Plan ahead and prepare
- Travel and camp on durable surfaces
- Dispose of waste properly
- Leave what you find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect wildlife
- Be considerate of other visitors
These are all relatively common sense. However, when wild camping, my partner and I take these guidelines a step further.
- We only camp in spots with little to no vegetation so as to avoid disturbing seedlings and fragile ecosystems.
- We take absolutely all of our rubbish with us including toilet paper and food scraps.
- We don’t have campfires, ever.
- We avoid going to the toilet for where possible, holding on until public toilets are available.
- We are very careful to store/hang our food appropriately.
- We never stay more than one night in one spot, and we pitch our tent as it’s getting dark and then leave at first light, often around 6am.
Having grown used to the more socialist leanings of Europe, it was challenging for my partner and I to come to Canada and find no camping signs everywhere. Wanting to experience as much of the natural environment surrounding our Victoria home as possible but not owning a car, has made wild camping sometimes unavoidable. Public busses have served us to a degree but have often been limiting, and, due to our limited success with hitch hiking (which were also surprised to find was illegal after coming from Europe), it seemed that wild camping was going to provide a solution to walking 12 hour days from bus stops.
Two examples of places where we have wild camped recently include:
East Sooke Regional Park
East Sooke Regional Park is truly spectacular and well worth a visit. There are three entrances to the park and some public toilets which we happily made use of. Oddly enough, the public bus to the park didn’t run on weekends so we were forced to get off the bus some 8km from the edge of the park which would have made for a very long day if wanted to see any real amount of the park.
We followed Anderson Cove Trail down to Iron Mine Bay and then joined the Coast Trail which we followed until Cabin Point Trap Shack. The coastal trail is challenging but the views are stunning and there is a nice amount of variety with some sections through forest and some sections along open hilltops. If you are fit and strong, I highly recommend this trail. But, take lots of water if it’s a warm day, the sun is relentless along the open tops!
A cougar had been sighted in the days before we visited the park but we weren’t too worried. We knew there were cougars in the park and that they were unlikely to bother us. We stayed together and talked continuously. However, seeing the warning signs stirred a little unease and so we decided to make use of the Trap Shack – an old wooden shack for the fisherman of the early 1900s. It obviously sees frequent over-nighters as the walls were covered with graffiti and messages such as “boil the stream water” and “lovely sunset” – which it was!
We lay our sleeping mats on the tent due to the impressive amount of dust in the shack, but later in the evening ended up putting up our tent inner (which luckily is free-standing) to protect us from hungry mosquitoes.
There is no cellphone reception in the park which didn’t affect us as we go camping to get away from our phones, and I spent the evening reading while my partner, the photographer, played with his camera in the sunset.
Gowlland Tod Provincial Park
We wild camped in Gowlland Tod Provincial Park for similar reasons. There simply weren’t adequate bus connections and we wanted to walk the length of the park.
We took a bus to Bear Mountain Resort and walked from there, all the way to Butchart gardens where we took the bus back the next day. Roughly in the middle on the Ridge Trail, we found a rocky outcrop of grass which was the perfect size for our tent. We camped simply that night, eating sandwiches for dinner and banana bread for breakfast so that we could get away without bringing a stove and having to cook anything. But the simplicity is another reason that we go camping. We often sit through the entire evening just looking at the view while the sun goes down. We never play music or get rowdy, and we wake up and continue hiking first thing next morning.
Wild camping is, for me, medicine for my soul. After a week at work, I feel sapped of energy and motivation for life. But, after a night along in a tent somewhere beautiful, I feel alive again, reminded of my reason for existence.