A popular 47-kilometre oceanside hiking trail on Vancouver Island will be closed this summer due to damage from storms.
Several important sections of the Juan de Fuca Marine Park Trail, which stretches from around Jordan River to just outside Port Renfrew, have been either washed away or blocked by fallen trees, according to a statement from B.C. Parks.
Five backcountry campgrounds along the route are also closed, but day-use areas will be open and backcountry camping will remain available in two locations: Mystic Beach and East Sombrio Beach.
The storms, which happened in the fall and winter, caused extensive damage to bridges, boardwalks, shelters and campsites, says B.C. Parks.
Juan de Fuca Park is among B.C.’s most used provincial parks. B.C. Parks data measures visits based on each day a park is used by a person, meaning a person on a provincial park trail for three days counts as three visits.
From April 2023 to March 2024, Juan de Fuca Park saw 615,784 visits, coming in just behind the ever-popular Stawamus Chief Park near Squamish, which totalled 746,547 visitors.
Both are eclipsed by several other B.C. parks, including Cypress, Golden Ears and Manning, which each saw more than one million visitors that year.
The Juan de Fuca trail, which takes hikers through the forest and along beaches, was initially closed in November 2024, after heavy rains battered the province.
A reopening date was not specified at that time, and B.C. Parks is still not saying when it will be hiker-ready again. The parks agency says the trail and campsites will be reopened in phases as repairs are completed.
B.C. Parks provides up-to-date information on closures and openings for the park on its website.
