From Charming Chemainus make you way north towards Tofino. On the route you can make some astonishing stops as well as do some short hikes.
Englishman River Falls PP
Not long after Nanaimo, exit the Inland Island expressway (Hwy 19) for the Englishman River Falls Provincial Park (PP). From the day use parking lot you want to take the trail that parallels bot sides of the river crossing two bridges and loops back to the parking lot. It’s a short, easy trail. See the Englishman River Falls Provincial Park map.
Colourful Coombs
We always look out for the kids. But this is ridiculous. These kids have been climbing the roofs for over 40 years! We seen them many times when we lived in Western Canada. The Graaten family emigrated from Norway in the 1950s. Following Norwegian tradition, they built a sod roof over their market, which has an amazing selection of products. The goats were picked up on waivers as lawn mowers. They became a marketing gimmick for the Old Country Market. It works ‒ one million tourists visit each year! The biggest change has been all the shops and cafes that have opened along this side street.
Directions: leave the Inland Island Highway 19 at the exit for Highway 4 to Tofino. A short distance southwest turn left onto old Highway 4A to the village of Coombs. You can get there from Parksville via the same Hwy 4A in the opposite direction. Return to Hwy 4 to continue on to the rest of this itinerary.
Little Qualicum Falls PP
This was a very pleasant hike that was more like a walk. The trail head is at the day use parking lot and parallels the river from the lower to the upper waterfall. See the Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park map.
You can camp here or drive on towards Tofino.
MacMillan Provincial Park
Cathedral Grove had some gigantic douglas fir trees but a severe windstorm in 1997 toppled many huge trees. This tree is one of the few older trees that could be photographed from the trail. Also enjoy the hanging ferns as you walk.
But the park was most disappointing as there are way too many tourists. We remember this park when we were the only visitors on the trail. Moreover, Hwy 4 has much more traffic and noise today. There is so little parking, that everyone parks along the non-existing shoulders. The province cannot even widen the road to provide properly graded and sized shoulders. Be careful crossing the busy road!
This is a serious safety hazard. It is time that the province of BC constructs an expressway to end just after passing Port Alberni. The important thing is that the new road totally bypass MacMillan Park and Cameron Lake. This section of Highway 4 should solely be used by tourists.
Sproat Lake to Kennedy Lake
After Port Alberni, the two-lane Highway 4 is a twisty mountain road. It takes significant driving time to get to the coast. There are some wide open views thanks to the large lakes but there are minimal places to pull over to enjoy the views.
The weather was misty on the way over the mountains. We had forgotten how mountainous it was to get to Long Beach NP.
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