Tofino: Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre

A good place to start your explorations of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is here at the Centre, situated at the south end of Long Beach.

The Interpretive Centre is well-designed, well-staffed with knowledgeable Canadian Park Service folks, and has some great exhibits. Besides the First Nations whaling exhibits, we really enjoyed a documentary on the eco-web of the sea otter and kelp habitats. We learned that about 80% of the surviving west coast sea otter population is in Alaskan waters. But the trans-location project which has attempted to restart otter colonies on the BC coast is working. Fortunately, the sea otter is a prolific breeder.

After walking the South Beach Trail, we enjoyed a sunset dinner at the restaurant. And then a memorable hike to the South Beach Trial, which branches off from the Nuu-chah-nulth trail to Ucluelet. Here we found a granite-sand and granite-pebble cove that is simply stunning — especially in the twilight soft sunlight.

The surfers love Long Beach. I suspect the storm watchers have this spot high on their list of observing locations.

Parks Canada has the details on all the Pacific Rim park trails here.