Juan De Fuca Trail Hike

Of Note in General: Camping and overnight parking fees required, high tides may cut off beach/trail access, numerous mud stretches, frequently damaged infrastructure (ladders, bridges, boardwalks), bear scat, the trail is popular, uneven ground, rocks and roots, stones of all sizes on the beach, very slippery stones in grottos and on the beach, hiking poles and boots are highly recommended. Very limited /nonexistent cell phone coverage along the trail - it might be possible to get a signal from a USA carrier (beware of roaming charges!). The entire trail is in the tsunami hazard area - head to higher ground or inland in case of an earthquake.

Vancouver Island, Victoria & Gulf Islands Backroad Mapbook (9th edition) Coordinates: Page 4 (Jordan River) C4-B4-A4 and Page 3 (Port Renfrew) G4-F3-E3-D3-C3.

Related Website: Juan De Fuca Provincial Park - BC Parks Official Website.

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Juan De Fuca Marine Trail is a multi-day 47 km-long hike on Vancouver Island along Salish Sea between China Beach (East of Sooke BC) and Botanical Beach in Port Renfrew, BC. Both trailheads are easily accessible by vehicles via Highway 14 (West Coast Road), allowing for a one-way hike via a shuttle. Also, because there are two other vehicle-accessible locations along the trail (Sombrio Beach and Parkinson Creek), it is possible to hike Juan De Fuca Trail in series of one day hikes, which is exactly what we did. On Day 1, we hiked from China Beach to Bear Beach (km 0 to 9) and back. On Day 2, we went from Sombrio Beach to Chin Beach (not to be confused with China Beach! - km 29 to 21) and back. On Day 3, our hike was Parkinson Creek to Sombrio Beach (km 37 to 29) and back. And, on Day 4, we went from Botanical Beach to km 39 (2 km West of Parkinson Creek) and back.

Thus, we hiked the entire Juan De Fuca Trail except the part from Bear Beach to Chin Beach (km 9 to 21) and a small part between km 37 and 39. The Bear Beach to Chin Beach part was not possible to do in a day hike, and the part between km 37 and 39 was all in the forest (like the most of Juan De Fuca Trail, by the way), and we wanted to save time to explore Botanical Beach area, arguably the best part of this entire hike.

The main attractions of Juan De Fuca Trail are: three long suspension bridges, fine shoreline views at beaches and (sometimes) from the trail in the woods, wonderful tidal pools at Botanical Beach (and a few much smaller ones at other beaches), very interesting grottos at some beaches, several waterfalls, and a few interesting forest scenes. Campers would certainly enjoy spending time at the beaches (mostly made of stones, small and large), and will likely have a whole lot of other people nearby at all times aside from, perhaps, the coldest and wettest months of the year.

What surprised us is that, despite being a marine trail, the vast majority of hiking has to be done in the woods. There are no major elevation changes, so it's a fairly easy trail to hike from that perspective, but the biggest challenge comes from numerous slippery sections and rather frequently worn-out wooden infrastructure (ladders, bridges and boardwalks), presenting somewhat complicated and, sometimes, fairly dangerous conditions in many parts of the trail.

Also of note, while there are pit toilers at all the parking lots and some campsites along Juan De Fuca Trail, the garbage cans can only be found at the Sombrio Beach parking lot! There are no garbage cans at the Botanical Beach lot (there is a free public dump in Port Renfrew, open during business hours only), and none at China Beach lot either (however, there are garbage cans at China Beach campground, about 1 km east of the lot). Overnight parking and backcountry camping requires a fee. Parking around Port Renfrew is complicated. No overnight camping is allowed at the Botanical Beach lot, and there is a forest service road fairly close by (just east of Port Renfrew), but it does not have a good level spot for parking, unless you manage to find one.

Furthermore, there will likely be a whole lot of mud on this trail if you hike it at any time aside from, perhaps, late Summer and early Fall. But hiking during the drier season also means that the waterfalls along Juan De Fuca Trail (there are a few) would not be as impressive due to a much smaller volume of water.

Finally, there are no fresh water taps anywhere along the trail. Be prepared to have your water boiled or treated, especially if you plan on having a multi-day hike.

* All trail distances are based on a GPS odometer and are approximate.

92-93. Having gone through the vegetation, we get a very fine view of Sombrio Beach (to the left) and the waterfall.

Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

94. Now with a zoom.

Waterfall in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

Here is our video of the waterfall from this location.

95-96. Continuing on Juan De Fuca Trail (Sombrio Beach to Chin Beach), at 1.1 km east of Sombrio Beach (and 380 meters from 27 km mark) is this view of an interesting triangular rock (plain and zoomed).

View from Juan De Fuca Trail

Triangular rock in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

97. Some mud 60 meters later.

Muddy spot on Juan De Fuca Trail

98. Most of Juan De Fuca Marine Trail is in the forest, despite the name, and here is an example of that 1.11 km from the 27 km mark (heading towards 26 km mark, which arrives 100 meters later).

Hike in Canada - Juan De Fuca Trail

99. It's a very fine path in the forest at 120 meters from the 26 km mark (heading towards 25 km mark).

Hiking through a forest in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

100. A bit of a descent at 880 meters past 25 km mark (heading towards 24 km mark).

Vancouver Island Hiking - Juan De Fuca Trail

101-102. Loss Creek suspension bridge arrives at 530 meters after the 24 km mark.

Loss Creek Suspension Bridge

Juan De Fuca Trail Loss Creek Suspension Bridge

103. A very fine view from the bridge.

View from Loss Creek Bridge in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park British Columbia Canada

Here is our video of crossing Loss Creek suspension bridge.

104. More mud 140 meters from the 23 km mark.

Muddy Juan De Fuca Trail

105. A good view 400 meters later.

View from Juan De Fuca Trail

106. At 600 meters from the 22 km mark, we are approaching Chin Beach. There are some parts of the trail with encroaching vegetation, but we saw a park ranger trimming those plants.

Hiking in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

107. At 630 meters from the 22 km mark (heading east towards the 21 km mark) we have reached Chin Beach (not to be confused with China Beach at km 0). Coordinates: N 48⁰28.444’ W 124⁰15.514’. Elevation: 20 meters. Red buoys like the one seen in the photo below can be found on many beaches of Juan De Fuca Trail, and indicate trail entrances.

Chin Beach entrance

108. The main part of the beach and the continuation of Juan De Fuca Trail is to the left. However, we first went to the right (western end of the trail) for about 120 meters to check out several very fine grottos.

Chin Beach in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

109. Beware of extremely slippery stones in the grottos area.

Chin Beach grotto

110-111. Impressive natural ceiling art.

Juan De Fuca Provincial Park grotto

112. Go a bit further...

Juan De Fuca Trail - Chin Beach

113-114...and there is one more grotto with yet another fine ceiling.

Chin Beach on Vancouver Island

Grotto ceiling

115. We then returned to Chin Beach entrance and are looking east. A fine small tidal pool can be observed at the bottom left of the photo.

Chin Beach - Juan De Fuca Provincial Park - British Columbia - Canada

Here is our video of the tidal pool and Chin Beach.

116. An impressive wall 30 meters from the Chin Beach entrance.

Juan De Fuca Trail - Chin Beach

117-118. At 65 meters, there is this mini-waterfall. Good for drinking water and showering, especially outside of the dry season, when the water volume would be larger than what we found today.

Chin Beach mini-waterfall

Here is our video of this mini-waterfall.

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119. Chin Beach 130 meters east of the beach entrance. Only stones here, no sand to speak of.

Chin Beach

120. But what an interesting view. Looking back at 140 meters.

Vancouver Island Chin Beach

121. Now looking back at 600 meters after entering Chin Beach. We saw three groups totaling less than ten people. There is no road leading to this beach, only Juan De Fuca Trail, thus the lack of crowds.

Chin Beach on Vancouver Island in British Columbia Canada

122. Looking east at 680 meters.

Juan De Fuca Trail Chin Beach

123. At 780 meters, very close to the eastern end of Chin Beach, a staircase leads to the continuation of Juan De Fuca Trail which we did not hike (Chin Beach to Bear Beach - km 21 to 9), which is, apparently, the toughest stretch of the entire trail. We did hike the Bear Beach to China Beach stretch (km 0 to 9), as covered on Pages 1 and 2 of this trip report.

Juan De Fuca Trail entrance from Chin Beach

124. 20 meters later, we are at the eastern end of Chin Beach.

Eastern end of Chin Beach

125. A neat tidal pool nearby.

Tidal Pool - Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

126. A cool view.

Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

127. And a passing seal to seal the deal.

Seal

Sombrio Beach to Chin Beach stretch of Juan De Fuca Marine Trail is a fine hike. Next was a hike from Parkinson Creek to Sombrio Beach. Our Juan De Fuca Trail hike trip report Continues on Page 5.

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ihikebc.com Trip 301 - Juan De Fuca Trail Hike (near Sooke, BC) Page 4 of 8