Backpack a British Columbia, Canada Trail

Monkman Park Mountains

There are over 11,400,000 hectares of designated parkland in Canada. Parks visit the banks of raging rivers, the shores of lakes, the tips of glaciers, the lowlands and grasslands,  mountain peaks and caves…. and the towering hoodoos, raincoast forests, bird migration wetlands and pioneer heritage sites.

Then add the wildlife management areas, protected reserves, sanctuaries and wildlife refuges… togther  you have some sweet wilderness areas to explore.

There are many parks to explore in BC by backpack. In fact, did you know that throughout British Columbia, Canada parks there are over 2,700+ kilometres of hiking and mountain biking trails. We think that may be a low number too.

Some British Columbia parks are established to protect our flora and fauna, some to protect our history, some to protect our wildlife eco systems and some to protect geological areas. Most are accessed by trails.

At last count there were around 831 BC Parks in the province as of 2007.  This, by no means, is the total number of wilderness and recreation parks in British Columbia, Canada as there have been many new designated parks since then.  In fact… only 12.5% of British Columbia landmass protected by BC Parks (very small percentage relatively) and 0.6% is protected by National Parks.

Backpacking Vancouver Island Parks

British Columbia has many unique parks for all eco systems and activities. For example … the Khutzeymateen Provincial Park is Canada’s only grizzly bear sanctuary.

Cape Scott Provincial Park located on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, BC is a hidden gem of a park with a 26 kilometre one way backpacking trail connecting to 4 remote sandy beaches and a lighthouse. It is often over-shadowed by the WCT (West Coast Trail) located near Bamfield and Port Renfrew on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The Tweedsmuir Provincial Park is British Columbia’s largest provincial park covering 989,616 hectares.

Near Tumbler Ridge, BC there is Monkman Park and the 62 kilometre Monkman Memorial Backpacking Trail. It is a rough wilderness trail for backpacking and wilderness camping highlighted by the Monkman Cascades. The cascades are the ten waterfalls located along Monkman Creek.

Another Vancouver Island park is the 440 metre Della Falls in Strathcona Park. The falls are Canada’s highest waterfall… and, get this… it is one of the ten highest waterfalls in the world and is accessed by a backpacking trail!

For more photos and information on specific parks, in or near, a B.C., Canada community please visit one of the many regional and community websites on the BCeh.com travel Network.

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