Rain Forest Hiking Trail - Route A, Tofino, BC

Rain Forest Hiking Trail
Location: Off the Pacific Rim Highway
The Rain Forest Trail consists of two separate loops. Although both pass through the same type of forest, each trail has its own distinctive character. While the routes are not difficult the boardwalk may be slippery in sections - please watch your step in though areas.

Rain Forest Hiking Trail Route A
Distance: 1 km loop
Babbling brook. Enter a rain forest and discover a new world. The vegetation is dense with cedar, hemlock, fir, moss, ferns, shrubs and young tree seedlings. Aged trunks, which crashed earthward hundreds of years ago, criss-cross the forest floor. To pass by these fallen giants is to walk through past centuries, for some of these trees were well established seedlings before the first white people saw the coast of North America. Tiny chickadees and kinglets explore the upper levels of the rain forest and in Sandhill Creek salmon come to spawn. In the fall the creek gives meaning to the words "babbling brook " - it's a wonderful, peaceful sound that accompanies you along the way.

Rain Forest Route A - a 1 km looping trail. | An easy boardwalk starts Rain Forest A.

Big trees line the boardwalk. | So close you can touch them.

Some gentle steps are along Rain Forest A. | Looks for ferns, mosses, trees, birds, bugs and fungi.

The ground seems a little closer on Rain Forest A. | The boardwalk looks small next to this tree.

Now that's a rain forest tree!

Reading about a big tree in the forest. Interpretive plaques are along the trail.

Why Giant Conifers?
This landscape has not always been dominated by giant conifers. A journey through time reveals past forests.

August 1, 40 million years ago
It's hot and sticky. You're strolling through a leafy forest of over 40 different types of hardwood trees. The air is heavy with the scent of magnolia blossoms and thick with buzzing insects. You see no conifers, except as small patches on distant mountain slopes.

August 1, 10 million years ago
A cool breeze blows. Although you're leaning against a sycamore tree, hardwoods are difficult to find. Instead, conifers have moved down and grown into giants. You wonder....why has the forest changed?

About 15 million years ago
About 15 million years ago the climate cooled. This was partly due to world-wide volcanic eruptions that blocked the sun with clouds of ash. Also, the slow rise of the coastal mountains changed local weather patterns. Cooler summers and wet, mild winters favoured conifers and gradually they edged out the one-flourishing hardwoods.

Rain Forest Trail
Welcome To Tofino, BC