west coast vancouver island adventure.

[bigfoot-clayton]

First trip away from plugins to test the battery. So far day 2 and all is good, small 40 watt panel seems to keep it full with the radio running constantly.

[kirkman]

Nice!!


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[bigfoot-clayton]

Beautiful spot right by the beach

[John Linck]

Always loved that long beach.

[Glenn Baglo]

Long Beach

[Franswa]

would like to take a trip there this summer....never towed a trailer there before. Any details like which resort/campground, cost would be appreciated. And to continue with the theme...another pic of Long Beach with the ever prsent fog...TIA

[J Mac]

Bella Pacifica Campground | Tofino BC

[WaltP]

Do you have both a 17' and a 5th wheel?
Jealous. Not many of those 5th wheels around and they are really nice.

Walt

[Island Claire]

Hi Clayton, think I saw your rig in a parking lot in Vict on Fri. Almost stopped to say hi.

Franswa, towing to Tofino is fun. Lots of corners and hills. The road has some narrow spots, but if you take your time, and pull over to let locals and crazy drivers pass when you can, it is a very enjoyable drive. Bell Pacifica is the only one "on the beach". Book now, it fills quickly.

[Carol H]

Bella Paciifica is a good choose - especially if you are able to score one of the sites right down on the beach, have stayed there many times. Need to book way in advance - unless you happen to have a family member who manages the resort it belongs to Sadly they switched jobs a few years ago but the good news is they have a great spot right on the beach in their driveway that works well for my small trailer

Pacific Rim National park also has camping but again you need to book early and the sites are not on the water. I have noted the park does often have vacancy signs out if you are there mid week. If you get in line early in the day you *might * get in without reservations.

Crystal Cove Resort is located right on the water so its an easy/short walk to the beach but sites are on the small side and few if any actually have a water view. They have cabins for rent down at the water. Its probable the highest end of the campgrounds - very clean campground with lots of amenities. So pricing is high.

There is also a campground at the Long Beach Golf Course. VERY rustic and probable the most run down of your options in the area but its also the cheapest. If your simple looking for an inexpensive spot to park the trailer close to Tofino it works.

An option between the most expensive and the least expensive & within a easy drive to Tofino is Surf Junction. Most of the sites are fairly large and lots of trees for privacy. The do have power at many of the the sites. Its located right between Uclelect and Wickaninish Beach - 8km either direction. Its also not located right on the beach though.

For something different if you are willing to do just a day trip to Tofino only is the Toquart Bay area - its on the beach and a great spot if you are into Kayaking as its only an hours paddle out to the Broken Islands. It was a popular fishing campground for years - again really rough but it was closed down a few years ago due to some issues with the water supply. I understand they have built a new campground called Secret Beach by the old campground. Not been there as I think they only opened it last summer, so can't tell you much about it. But suspect it will be pretty rustic and popular with the kayakers and fishermen as well with sites pretty close together. Its about an 8 mile drive up a gravel road to get to it but the road is very do able with a trailer. The turn off is off the main highway about 10 miles before you get to the Tofino/Ucluelet junction - its on the left heading west. There are signs but its easy to miss due to being just a gravel road.


If you are wanting more wilderness camping on the beach is

Mussel Beach

- again its a bit of a drive from Tofino but an easy day trip. Its a popular campground for the Tofino locals. No power or water so bring your own and its a forest road going in - which is partly paved but mostly a graded gravel - easy to pull on. View from campground is the Broken Islands. $30 a night for beach sites and $25 for non beach sites.

There is also a campground right in downtown Ucluelet - is a handy location but its again pretty run down and not really wilderness camping. The photos on their website make it appear a lot better than it really is.

[bigfoot-clayton]

Hey Walt. I need to update my profile but i sold the 17' to pick up the fifth wheel. I thought it was a decent trade off. The fifth wheel is a nice rig with everything i have wanted out of a trailer. The 17' was nice but missing hot water and hot water was a little more of a down fall then i had first anticipated. I also jumped years from 1980 to 89 which as i have discovered alot of updates happened through the 80's. I am very happy now and will be keeping this one for many years.

And yes there are alot of nice places to camp up in this area of the west coast. I am at a place called salmon beach on a lot of property a friend of the family owns and it actually is one bay away from mussel beach. This is a bonus cause it has a boat launch so i can get out to do a little fishing. Also in a daily protected section so my 12' tin boat works just fine.

All sites mentioned would be a fabulous adventure and yes the road is full of corner and hills so check brakes and strap things down for your journey from port alberni to ucluelet.

[WaltP]

Thanks Clayton. Yeah, I'd make that trade in a heart beat. Enjoy.

Walt

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by bigfoot-clayton

I am at a place called salmon beach on a lot of property a friend of the family owns and it actually is one bay away from mussel beach. This is a bonus cause it has a boat launch so i can get out to do a little fishing. Also in a daily protected section so my 12' tin boat works just fine.

All sites mentioned would be a fabulous adventure and yes the road is full of corner and hills so check brakes and strap things down for your journey from port alberni to ucluelet.

LOL aren't the friends and family owned private camping spots the best!

Hows the fishing? heard its been pretty good? Any pics of the catch of the day?

I also agree making sure everything is REALLY SECURE, even if you stay only on the main paved road. I can travel thousands of miles on other trips and have nothing move about inside the trailer but the road to the West Coast is whole different story ... always surprised when I open the door on arrival to see what has managed to fly around or make its way out onto the floor or bed from behind closed doors.

[Franswa]

thanks Carol for the "Everything you ever wanted to know about camping spots near Tofino/Ucluelet" !!!!!

I'll be printing that up and putting in the file..

this is what you can expect if you make it further up the island to Schoen Lk Prov. Park... (yabul, very "schoen" spot alright) note: need to take something that floats with you to really take it all in...thanks again, F

[Carol H]

Your welcome, one of the upsides of having spent a better part of my youth and young adult years on the island. I actually got my first driving lesson on Long Beach back before it was a National Park and you could actually camp right on the beach and bellbottoms and peace signs where all still cool. :-)

There is also some camping spots in the Kennedy Lake Forest service area if you don't mind roughing it. You can also take the back gravel road out of Port Alberni (may be called the Bamfield road) to get out to Nitnat and Carmahah Valley as well. Its an active logging road so its kept well graded.

Thanks for the tip on up island. I have spent some time up that way but would love to do way more.

[Franswa]

the Bamfield Road is much improved in the last 10-15 years.....google even sent their camera car through it so you can now "drive" the whole thing on your 'puter' (see pic)....I heard that Pachena Bay (native campground) is well worth the trip for a small RV.....just remember to tape up leaky windowns/doors if you got 'em (or wait for a rainy day)

I've driven to Tofino a few times and towing a boat twice....so I know what that's like....just never "camped" around there....

Another one on the "list" is the road from Cowichan Lake to Port Renfrew...the chamber of commerce types have been promoting that one quite a bit the last few years (circle route through Victoria)....it too has been driven by Google and it looks "hard surfaced" the whole way from what I could tell....

no shortage of destinations in this rock, that's for sure....Happy motoring

[marijke]

Franswa,

Pachena Bay is awesome and the road there not too bad. The Golf Course Campground is cool too, not on a beach but we made a comfy camp there last summer. Same with Mussel Beach! My dogs and I kayaked there last summer. Just north of Nanaimo is a cute campground, run by the natives, right on the beach looking to the mainland. Asking around once you're on the Island may get to places off the beaten path.
Enjoy your journey!

[Glenn Baglo]

Qualicum First Nation Campground.
Beachfront, water and power, sani station on site. Cost $35 a night two weeks ago.

[Carol H]

Franswa yup the Bamfield road is very do able -no problems pulling on it - just dusty.

Agree Pachena Bay is VERY nice.... its been a long time though since I camped there. Done the Cowichan Lake to Port Renfrew many times - mostly hauling a boat - its an easy tow mostly paved if not all now.

Looks like you had good weather Glenn. I spent a week last July at the Qualicum First Nations campground. During the week had most of the place to myself.

[dleverton]

I too love Pachina Bay. I live near Duncan so I got to Pachina via Cowichan Lake and the forestry roads. These roads can be rough in spots, but it was a great trip. The Bamfield Rd out of Port Alberni is definitely smoother. There are some great camping areas run by the forest company. We are having a family reunion at Kissinger Lake at the West end of Cowichan Lake this summer, all have trailers. It is a wonderful little lake about 20Km of gravel road past Youbou. We drove there this spring to check it out and there was an otter sitting on the dock.



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Doug L