Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a Canadian national park on the southwestern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It covers 126,000 acres (51,000 hectares) of land in the Insular Mountains region.
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve consists of three separate units. These units, from northwest to southeast, are Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. Long Beach extends along a broad coastal plain between the villages of Tofino and Ucluelet. The area is famous for its long, sandy beaches. The Broken Group Islands area, in Barkley Sound, consists of more than 100 densely forested islands and large, bare rocks. The West Coast Trail features a 47-mile (75-kilometer) backpacking route. The trail leads hikers through coastal rain forests and past caves, cliffs, and waterfalls.
The park reserve has a mild climate, with cool, foggy summers and warm, rainy winters. Fir and spruce trees are common near the coast, and cedar, fir, and hemlock trees grow farther inland. Animals that live in the reserve include black bears, cougars, deer, bald eagles, minks, red squirrels, and woodpeckers. Harbor seals, sea lions, several kinds of whales, and other marine creatures inhabit the shoreline and coastal waters.
Bird and whale watching, camping, hiking, sea kayaking, and scuba diving are popular activities at Pacific Rim. Recreational facilities, including the Green Point Theatre and the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre, are concentrated in the Long Beach area. The government of Canada established Pacific Rim National Park Reserve in 1970.
