#2 of 21 sights in Pacific Rim
Beach · Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Driftwood, wide sand and Pacific surf make this a proper beach stop.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Pacific Rim Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Pacific Rim audio tourRecorded for this place
Wickaninnish Beach“You're approaching the beach access for Wickaninnish Beach, a broad sandy shore lined with driftwood. Use Wickaninnish Day Use Area off Wick Road for direct beach access and picnic tables.”
Plays as you drive up to Wickaninnish Beach in the Parkwolf Pacific Rim Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Wickaninnish Beach is a broad sandy shore in the Long Beach Unit, with open ocean, driftwood and frequent surf. Come for a long walk or to watch the waves work across the beach. The water is cold and often rough, so treat this as a walking and surf-watching stop rather than counting on a casual swim; check the surf and tide before heading along the shore.
The Kwisitis Visitor Centre sits at the beach's south end. Its exhibits cover the land, sea, sky and local people, and it has a First Nations Gift Shop. The outside deck is a place to watch surfers and storm surf and, when they appear, whales. “Kwisitis” means “other end of the beach” in Nuu-chah-nulth.
At low tide, more sand can open up between the water and the driftwood, giving you a broader shoreline to frame. The deck at Kwisitis looks along the beach if you want a higher view of the surf. Tides and swells change the water's edge, so check conditions before walking far along the shore.
The Long Beach Unit is within the traditional territories of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ. Parks Canada says it has worked collaboratively with First Nations since 1995; the Kwisitis exhibits include stories and knowledge from the coast's First Nations.
Wildlife
11 sightingsOrcaMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
16 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
174 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
16 sightingsSea OtterMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
134 sightingsSteller Sea LionMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
18 sightingsCalifornia Sea LionMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Pacific Rim. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateSouth Beach Trail1.6 km · 45 min · 1.5 km awayA short walk to hear waves wash over a pebble beach.
ModerateRainforest Trail B1 km · 30 min · 1.9 km awayA short boardwalk loop with more stairs than its distance suggests.
ModerateRainforest Trail A1 km · 30 min · 2.1 km awayBoardwalks thread giant cedars and stair-stepped ravines.
EasyShorepine Bog Trail0.8 km · 15 min · 2.5 km awayA short boardwalk loop through stunted shore pines and open bog.
ModerateCombers Beach Trail1 km · 45 min · 2.6 km awayA short forest descent to a broad Pacific beach.
EasyFlorencia Bay North Beach Access0.6 km · 30 min · 3.2 km awayA short trail drops to sand, surf, and a forested islet.
EasyGreen Point South Trail1 km · 30 min · 4.3 km awayA brief forest descent opens onto Combers Beach.
Visitor center · 1.4 km awayKwisitis Visitor CentreExhibits and a Pacific view above Wickaninnish Beach.Beach · 2.1 km awaySouth BeachA short, hilly walk ends where the waves put on a show.
Beach · 3.4 km awayCombers BeachA broad, quieter beach after a short, steep forest walk.
Campground · 4.5 km awayGreen Point CampgroundA forested campground with Long Beach just down the bluff.
Sight · 4.9 km awayNational Park Reserve Administration OfficeA useful roadside errand for visitors who need park services.Beach · 5 km awayFlorencia BayA five-kilometre Pacific beach, best explored at low tide.
Beach · 7.2 km awayLong BeachA wide Pacific beach made for long, unrushed walks.
Beach · 7.3 km awayHalfmoon Bay BeachA quieter cove reached by a stair-heavy forest walk.Parkwolf’s Pacific Rim ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
