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.

Follow @ihikebc Tweet 

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.

150. The main attraction of the Parkinson Creek - Sombrio Beach stretch of Juan De Fuca Trail comes right at the 32 km mark (just 15 meters east of it - towards km 31). It is Minute Creek suspension bridge.

Juan De Fuca Trail Minute Creek suspension bridge

151. The bridge is about 70 meters long and features a fine shoreline view on one side, and a rather remote waterfall view on the other.

Minute Creek suspension bridge

152. The shoreline view.

Shoreline view from Juan De Fuca Trail

153-154. The remote waterfall view (plain and zoomed). There didn't appear to be an obvious way to get closer to the waterfall, which definitely gets much larger in the wet season.

Waterfall by Juan De Fuca Trail

Here is our video of this suspension bridge.

155. Yet more forest. 919 meters between km 32 and 31.

Juan De Fuca Trail hiking in Victoria British Columbia Canada area

156. A shoreline view at 330 m between km 31 and 30.

View from Juan De Fuca Trail near Victoria BC Canada

157. At 760 meters between km 30 and km 29, we have finally reached the west end of Sombrio Beach.

Hiking Juan De Fuca Marine Trail

158. Sombrio Beach 40 meters later. Still heading east.

Sombrio Beach

159. Looking back. Neat views all around.

Sombrio Beach in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park

160. Now at 30 meters between km 29 and 28.

Juan De Fuca Trail Sombrio Beach

161. Surfers enjoying the water.

Sombrio Beach surfers

Here is our video of the surfers and Sombrio Beach.

More ihikebc videos are on our YouTube Channel.

162. Looking back at 170 meters between km 29 and 28 of Juan De Fuca Trail.

Sombrio Beach near Victoria BC Canada

163-165. Now looking forward 10 meters later. There is this lagoon which needs to be crossed in high tide via a very short suspension bridge. But, during low tide, it is possible to simply walk around it.

166. The other side of the lagoon. Looking towards the sea.

Juan De Fuca Provincial Park British Columbia

167. Seagulls taking off.

Juan De Fuca Marine Trail

168. Proceeding east on Sombrio Beach. At 500 meters between km 29 and 28. Sombrio Beach is mostly made of stones, but there are a few sandy spots here and there.

Hiking Juan De Fuca Trail

169. More Sombrio Beach surfers. There were about twenty of them in total. Probably many more during the busy season.

Juan De Fuca Provincial Park surfers off Sombrio Beach

170. At 560 meters between km 29 and 28.

Juan De Fuca Marine Trail

171. Looking back 60 meters later.

Sombrio Beach

172. And we have reached Sombrio Beach camping area where a path takes you to the parking lot.

Juan De Fuca Trail camping on Sombrio Beach

173. 400 meters later via a forest, we are at Sombrio Beach parking lot.

Sombrio Beach parking lot

174. We then hiked to Highway 14, and hiked along Highway 14 all the way to Parkinson Creek turnoff and then Parkinson Creek parking lot. Not too much traffic on this highway, but long stretches of no shoulders made us go into a rather deep ditch a few times when incoming vehicles were getting close. Always walk facing the traffic in rural areas, especially if there is no shoulder.

British Columbia Highway 14

The next hike is from Botanical Beach (western end of Juan De Fuca Trail) east to km 39 (2 km west of Parkinson Creek parking lot). Our Juan De Fuca Trail Hike trip report Continues on Page 7.

---

   

---

    

Follow @ihikebc Tweet 

ihikebc.com Trip 301 - Juan De Fuca Trail Hike (near Sooke, BC) Page 6 of 8