Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Park Fee
You're not charged a fee just to travel straight through the park to Tofino, but if you stop
anywhere en route, a strictly enforced charge applies. A one-day permit is $7.80 for an
adult, $6.80 for a senior, and $3.90 for a child.
Flora and Fauna
Like the entire west coast of Vancouver Island, Pacific Rim National Park is dominated
by littoral (coastal) rainforest. Closest to the ocean, clinging to the rocky shore, a narrow
windswept strip of Sitka spruce is covered by salty water year-round. These forests of
spruce are compact and low-growing, forming a natural windbreak for the old-growth
forests of western hemlock and western red cedar farther inland. The old-growth forests
are strewn with fallen trees and lushly carpeted with mosses, shrubs, and ferns.
Long Beach
TheoceanoffwesternCanadareputedlyholdsmorespeciesofmarinelifethananyoth-
er temperate coast. Gray whales migrate up the coast each spring, seals and porpoises in-
habit the park's waters year-round, sea lions overwinter on rocky offshore outcrops, and
salmon spawn in the larger creeks through late fall. The tidal zone is the best place to
