Radar Hill Hiking Trail and Lookout, Tofino, BC

Radar Hill Trail
A radar station was located on this hill during World War II. LIttle remains of the old installation but the short trip to the top is well worth the climb as the panoramic views of the ocean, inlet and mountains can be found no where else in the national park reserve. Look for the Kap'yong Memorial that commemorates the involvement of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry during the Korean War. This national park is twinned with Hallyo Haesang Sea National Park in Korea.

View from Lower Lookout | View from eastern lookout area

Wheelchair Access
Lower Lookout: Possible to to drive to level boardwalk that is short stroll to lookout.
Continue past the first parking lot at the top of the road to the second parking area.
Upper Lookout: Trail starts at first parking lot and goes up paved gentle slope to the second lookout, then continues with a boardwalk up and across for the eastern view.

The Radar Hill Station has been dismantled. | Gentle sloping boardwalk on Radar Hill Trail.

Radar Hill: Canada and The Cold War
The year was 1954...Marilyn Bell swam across Lake Ontario, Dr Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine and Prime Minister Louis St Laurent governed a Canada of 16 million people. Five years earlier, the Soviet Union had exploded their first atomic bomb and in an atmosphere of mounting tension the superpowers vied for nuclear supremacy. North America defences were bolstered by a series of radar stations constructed jointly by Canada and the United States. The station constructed here was part of the 'Pinetree Line', the southern-most early warning line against Soviet long-range bombers. With the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles by 1960 such defences became obsolete and were dismantled.

Radar Hill Trail, Pacific Rim National Park
Welcome To Tofino, BC