Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
has good waves for surfing. To get there, head south from the Port Alberni/Tofino high-
way junction and look for Willowbrae Road to the right. Affiliated with this campground
is
Wya Point Surf Shop Café
(2201 Pacific Rim Hwy. 250/726-2992, $25), north of the
junction, which has sites that are popular with the surfing fraternity, as well as a surf shop
and café.
Information and Services
Therearenostoresorgasstationsinthepark,butsuppliesandgasareavailableinUcluelet
and Tofino. The
Pacific Rim Visitor Centre
(2791 Pacific Rim Hwy., 250/726-4600,
10am-4:30pm daily May to mid-Oct., until 7pm in July and August), where Highway 4
meets the road from Port Alberni.
The bustling fishing village of Tofino sits at the end of a long narrow peninsula, with the
only road access to the outside world being winding Highway 4. The closest town of any
size is Port Alberni, 130 kilometers (81 miles) to the east (allow at least 2.5 hours); Vict-
oria is 340 kilometers (211 miles) distant.
Originally the site of a native Clayoquot village, Tofino was one of the first points in
Canada to be visited by Captain Cook. It was named in 1792 for Don de Vincent Tofino, a
hydrographer with a Spanish expedition. Aside from contact with fur traders and whalers,
the entire district remained basically unchanged for almost 100 years.
Fishing has always been the mainstay of the local economy, but Tofino is also a supply
center for the several hundred hermits living along the secluded shores of the sound and
for the hordes of visitors who come in summer to visit Pacific Rim National Park, just to
thesouth.Inwinterit'saquiet,friendlycommunitywithapopulationoffewerthan2,000.
In summer the population swells to several times that size and the village springs to life:
Fishing boats pick up supplies and deposit salmon, cod, prawns, crabs, halibut, and oth-
er delicacies of the sea, and cruising, whale-watching, and fishing boats, along with sea-
planes, do a roaring business introducing visitors to the natural wonders of the west coast.
The town lies on the southern edge of sheltered
Clayoquot Sound,
known worldwide
for an ongoing fight by environmentalists to save the world's largest remaining coastal
temperate forest. Around 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of this old-growth forest re-
main; several parks, including
Clayoquot Arm Provincial Park, Clayoquot Plateau
