The real experts on this park are Mike Blake and his team at MB Guiding.
If you are looking to organized a guide trip — climbing the Golden Hinde, for example — go with MB Guiding.
If you’ve never been to Strathcona before, easiest access is via the Paradise Meadows trailhead out of Courtney / Comox which gives easy access to the Forbidden Plateau.
Well signed, well organized, well maintained, there are loops of increasing difficulty depending on your time and the weather.
One loop is wheelchair accessible, for example.
There are trails ideal for kids, as well.
Three campsites on the Forbidden plateau are first-come, first-served. Great value at CAD $10 / person / night.
If you want to tent, I’d recommend you head for the furtherest campsite – Circlet Lake.
Paradise Meadows is the best and most convenient trailhead in Strathcona, largest and oldest (1911) Provincial Park in B.C..
It’s easy access to the Forbidden Plateau on paved Strathcona Parkway up to Mt Washington Alpine Resort 1100m, 20km up from the inland highway.
Close to Courtney, Cumberland, and Campbell River. The nearest airport and ferry port are at Comox.
Looking from Raven Lodge at the trailhead, the most distinct peak is sharp Albert Edward, 6th highest mountain on the island.
It seemed to me in 2020 that Strathcona Park did not have as much staff as they would like. Happily the volunteers of the Strathcona Wilderness Institute are often in person at Paradise trailhead. Make a donation if they help you out.
→ Centennial Loop (2.5km) → Paradise Meadows Loop (4.2km) → Lake Helen Mackenzie – Battleship Lake Loop (8km) → Helen MacKenzie-Kwai Lake-Croteau Loop (14km)
Those trails closest to the trailhead are best maintained: bridges, pit toilets, good signage and much boardwalk. In fact, the Centennial Loop is wheelchair and scooter accessible.
Check the map. I hiked in to Circlet Lake on yellow, mostly looped back on green. But there are MANY possible different interconnecting loops.
Most hikers on the Forbidden Plateau stay down in the subalpine: forested hills, postcard pretty lakes, babbling brooks, and lovely meadows.
It’s wet. Expect rain.
Expect mud. 🙃
If we couldn’t enjoy all this beautiful boardwalk, we’d often be wading wetlands.
Water water everywhere, yet I found I had to treat almost every source. There are not all that many fast running creeks.
I passed one picturesque Ranger cabin.
Three first-come, first-served campgrounds are quite good, the closest at Lake Helen Mackenzie near the trailhead. Each has pit toilets and bear proof food lockers. (CAD$10 / person / night in 2020)
I was there late September 2020. Very few mosquitoes! That’s not always the case here.
I hiked in to Circlet about 9.5km one way. About 4 hours walking. Stayed 3 nights.
Arrived just before dark. Camped on pretty Duck Pond rather than the lake itself.
Circlet is not likely to fill up — but you MIGHT find no space left at Helen Mackenzie and Kwai Lake campgrounds on a busy day during the short summer season.
This hike is very challenging. Calling it Low-Medium is insanity. 🙄
There are many sections where you need to use your hands. Scrambles.
The river crossing could be dangerous / impossible at high water. I slipped in with both feet while boulder hopping.
You can quickly see why this temperate rain forest was so inaccessible before superb trail builders got here.
There was a ton of work done to put in this trail. Plenty of boardwalk, most made from local wood onsite.
Check this natural park bench.
The crux of the hike are these two ladders.
Made it. This is what I expected at Pumalín.
For me it was 3 hours round trip. Finishing at 8pm I had only about 2 hours of daylight left to get set-up at the nearby campground and to cook up a BIG dinner.
Cascada was my first hike in this sector of Parque Pumalín.
I cycled in to the Lake Chaiguata as part of my Patagonia bikepacking trip. Cycling is a great way to get to trailheads in this remote part of the world.
Parque Tantauco is fantastic. And fantastically well organized and funded.
The campsites are as good as I’ve seen anywhere. They put down wood chips to keep them dry.
There are a number of day hikes of various lengths, all well signed.
This is a wet, wet landscape. Thus they’ve built a LOT of boardwalk. And I love boardwalk.
Though the topography is fairly flat, trails are built to take you to overlooks.
You can do a half day hiking circuit from Bled. But I was riding with a tourist agent from Belgium who was doing research on the area. She had a rent-a-car.
In October near end of day, it wasn’t particularly crowded. Nor was Bled During July and August you may have trouble finding a place to park. And all accommodation can get booked out.
The water is so clear you can watch fish waiting on food to drift down.
We caught a terrific sunset after finishing our hike.
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