Parking
Follow Radar Road from Highway 4 to the upper Radar Hill parking lot, which is the trailhead. A national park entry pass is required; the automated Park Use Machine is at the lower lot and accepts credit cards.
Overview
About Radar Hill Trail
Why go
- Two broad coastal viewpoints on a short paved walk
- The Kapyong memorial adds meaningful history to a quick stop
Heads up
- The paved incline is very steep despite the short distance
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Pacific Rim map
Full mapElevation78–118 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
7 active Pacific Rim alerts
- CautionLong Beach trails: limited access and boardwalk hazardsMentions Long Beach, referenced in this guideShorepine Bog and Willowbrae trails have limited access, and Combers Beach Trail is rated Caution; use care and follow posted signs.Official details
- CautionWolf warning in Long Beach UnitA wolf warning remains active in the Long Beach Unit; leave pets at home because dogs attract wolves. Check current trail conditions before travelling.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Pacific Rim Tour Guide
Your drive to Radar Hill Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Radar Hill0:00 / 0:34
“You're coming up on Radar Hill, with two outlooks over very different stretches of coast. In clear weather, make time for both: one looks across Clayoquot Sound, the other toward Long Beach.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Pacific Rim Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Slug’s Four Feelers
- The Flying Boat in the Forest
- A Whale's Mouthful of Mud
- Grice Bay’s Hidden Meadows
- 34 audio storiesacross Pacific Rim’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Orca, Humpback Whale, Black Bear, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 19 trails, 52 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Radar Hill Trail
A short, steep viewpoint walkRadar Hill Trail is a paved out-and-back from the upper parking lot, about 0.
Radar Hill Trail is a paved out-and-back from the upper parking lot, about 0.38 miles round trip to the Kapyong Memorial and two viewing decks. Allow about 20 minutes with stops. The grade is very steep, so treat this as a quick viewpoint visit rather than an easy stroll.
Memorial first, then the viewsClimb from the upper lot and stop first at the memorial.
Climb from the upper lot and stop first at the memorial. Continue around the hill to the high point and a second, south-facing lookout, then retrace the same route. On a clear day the decks look across the Pacific, Clayoquot Sound, Tofino Inlet and the northern mountains. The second platform faces a different way, so visit both before heading back.
A radar station and a Kapyong memorialRadar Hill held a radar station during the Second World War.
Radar Hill held a radar station during the Second World War. The cairn was placed here in 1998 to remember the Battle of Kapyong, fought April 22–25, 1951, during the Korean War. The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry helped prevent a costly defeat for South Korean and United Nations forces; ten Canadians were killed and 23 wounded. The battalion received the rare United States Presidential Unit Citation.
Parking and accessTake Radar Road off Highway 4 to the upper Radar Hill parking lot; that is this trail’s start.
Take Radar Road off Highway 4 to the upper Radar Hill parking lot; that is this trail’s start. A national park entry pass is required. The automated Park Use Machine is at the lower lot and takes credit cards. An accessible toilet is available at Radar Hill. The viewing platforms have ramp access, but the steep paved approach can still be difficult. Dogs are allowed in this Long Beach area when leashed and under physical control.
A mileage wrinkleThe published distance is 500 metres one way (1 kilometre there and back), much longer than the…
The published distance is 500 metres one way (1 kilometre there and back), much longer than the 0.19-mile mapped corridor from the upper lot to the memorial and both decks. This record follows that continuous paved corridor and counts it twice, for about 0.38 miles round trip. Check current route information if the longer measurement matters to your plans.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Pacific Rim
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.
