Cathedral Grove

On the way to Tofino is a unique little park known as Cathedral Grove. It straddles Highway 4 ― the road that meanders from the east coast of Vancouver Island to its west coast ― and is the perfect place to stretch your legs on the long drive cross Island.

They say it first came to be called Cathedral Grove back in the 1920s, but it wasn’t made a provincial park until the 1940s after H.R. MacMillan, one of British Columbia’s lumber barons, donated the parcel of land to the province.

Short walking trails form loops on both sides of the highway. The north side of the highway is populated with Western red cedar. On the south side, you get up close and personal with the Douglas fir trees: some of them have a circumference of nine metres and are as old as 800 years.

As for the wow factor, this is as good as it gets in BC. I’ve been visiting this park since forever, and it never fails to impress.