Pachena Point Lighthouse

Pachena Point Light Station is a historic lighthouse on Vancouver Island's exposed west coast, beside the West Coast Trail in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It is a remote coastal landmark, not a roadside stop: the trail is a challenging 75-kilometre backcountry route that takes hikers several days.

In 1906, the Valencia wrecked off Vancouver Island and more than 125 people died. The disaster led to the construction of the Pachena light in 1907 and helped drive a wider coastal rescue effort. The West Coast Trail grew from that life-saving work, with shelters meant for shipwreck survivors and the people trying to reach them.

The first tower was damaged by a landslide while it was being built in February 1907, so it had to be rebuilt. The finished structure is an eight-sided wooden tower, just under 39 feet tall to its lantern deck. A first-order Fresnel lens was installed in 1909; its glass prisms focused the lamp into a strong beam. The lens served until it was retired in 1997.

Keepers and telegraph linemen once lived at the station. A wireless station was built in 1907, and the lighthouse base doubled as a weekday schoolroom and a weekend dance hall. Its last keeper filed a final weather report in October 2024, ending 117 years of staffed keeper service.

The West Coast Trail follows travel and trade routes used by Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht peoples long before foreign sailing ships reached this coast. The lighthouse dates to 1907, but the route through this landscape has a much older human history.