Ucluelet - Wild Pacific Trail - Overview

The Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet is a superb trail. It has a couple of loops and one long trail that goes along the coastline. It will eventually be expanded and integrate with a multi-use trail to Tofino to the North.

The trail was started by "Oyster Jim", a local fellow from Colorado who moved here in 1979. He tried several times to have a trail built along the coast but had to convince municipal council as well as local, provincial, and federal landowners to allow use of their land. He did get permission in 1996 and the first trail, the lighthouse loop, was finished in 1999. More have been added over the decades and more planned.

As with many trails, what you take in you must take out.

The trails are wide and well laid. There is even a stroller trail that although it does not go along the complete coast, is a more even trail for those with wheeled or limited mobility.

There are also many many offshoots that peel off to go to a small lookout to sample the change of viewpoints along the trail. The offshoots have either platforms, benches, or both.

Here is a platform that also uses the natural foliage to protect the trail and platform itself. It also provides a viewpoint surprise as it it climbed.

I think that this will be a regular part of our stay in Tofino and will encourage us to stay in Ucluelet once in a while.