The park is home to a famous, 157-hectare (390-acre) stand of ancient Douglas fir, known as Cathedral Grove, which draws visitors from all over the world.
… the only highway-accessible protected old-growth Douglas-fir forest in British Columbia.
British Columbia is a fantastic hiking destination. BUT campgrounds and some of the best hiking areas require difficult-to-aquirepermits — most famously, the West Coast Trail.
Juan de Fuca Trail in Juan de Fuca Marine Provincial Park near Port Renfrew (requires backcountry permits)
Wild Side Trail on Flores Island near Tofino (requires a water taxi to reach the trailhead)
Forbidden Plateau Core, Bedwell Lakes, Elk River Trail, and Arnica Lake in Strathcona Provincial Park (All require backcountry permits except Arnica Lake.)
Nootka Trail on Nootka Island near Gold River (requires a water taxi to reach the trailhead)
North Coast Trail, Cape Scott Trail, and San Josef Bay in Cape Scott Provincial Park near Port Hardy (requires backcountry permits, North Coast Trail requires a water taxi to reach the trailhead)
Raft Cove in Raft Cove Provincial Park near Port Hardy (requires backcountry permits)
Carmanah Valley in Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park (requires backcountry permits)
Interior and Eastern B.C.
Trophy Meadows in Wells Gray Provincial Park near Clearwater (requires backcountry permits)
Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park near Keremeos (requires backcountry permits)
Okanagan High Rim Trail near Vernon and Kelowna
Spectrum Lake in Monashee Provincial Park near Cherryville (requires backcountry permits)
Gwillim Lakes in Valhalla Provincial Park near Slocan
Kaslo Lake in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park near Nelson (requires backcountry permits)
Earl Gray Pass in Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park near Kaslo
South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park near Lillooet
Northern B.C.
Hunlen Falls in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park near Bella Coola (requires backcountry permits)
Monkman Memorial Trail in Monkman Provincial Park near Tumbler Ridge
Wokkpash Valley and McDonald Creek in Stone Mountain Provincial Park near Fort Nelson
Mount Edziza in Mount Edziza Provincial Park near Dease Lake
Backcountry permits are not reservations. And they don’t sell out.
No blisters. The shoes dry quickly. )My feet do get wrinkled after a couple of hours, however.)
If the rain really starts coming down, I’ll add an inexpensive Frogg Toggs waterproof jacket on top.
Since I bought a Hyperlite 3400 Windrider backpack, I’ve not used a pack cover. It’s quite rain resistant. Everything inside is protected from wet and water.
Chamonix to Zermatt, Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn – in two weeks of mountain travel you will see the greatest collection of 4000 metre peaks in the Alps!
AT A GLANCE
also known as the Walker’s High Route
Alpine charm: valleys, lakes, glaciers
great food, history, culture
from Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (4810m, 15,781ft)
to the Matterhorn, the most beautiful peak in the alps
9-15 days
180+kms (112mi)
best months June-Sept
crosses 11 passes, gains more than 12,000m elevation
Dianne Whelan is the only person to complete The Great Trail (Trans Canada Trail), a network of greenways, trails, waterways, and roads that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans.
It extends over 24,000 km (15,000 mi); it is now the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world
besthike.com 