While staying at a Vancouver Island vacation rental, venture out to see the beauty that is British Columbia. While its widest point is only 50 miles across, its length is 290 miles and more than one third of its northern land mass is undeveloped wilderness area. You can spend days exploring delicate ecosystems, forests and parks close to manyvacation rentals.
Victoria Area
Developed in 1882, Beacon Hill Park in downtown Victoria is a must-see when visiting. This garden park encompasses more than 200 acres with meandering paths leading to bridges that cross numerous ponds. It's home to blue herons, swans and countless species of ducks. The park borders Dallas Road Waterfront walk on the south side that leads to sandy beaches with spectacular views of the Pacific and eventually leads back to Beacon Hill.
Elk and Beaver Lake Regional Park is 20 minutes north of Victoria, covering 442 hectares with a trail system along the shoreline to explore the surrounding forests and lakes. Access to the park is off Pat Bay Highway in Saanich.
Roche Cove Regional Park and Trail contains 117 hectares of cedar forests, offering rugged marine landscapes. Trails dense with trees permeate the air with the fresh scent of cedar, especially after a heavy rainfall. Roche Cove Trail winds for 7 km along a creek bed lined with grassy slopes to climb for breathtaking views. Access to the park is 23 miles northeast toward the community of Sooke.
Sydney Area
The marine park at Sidney Spit Provincial Park offers long sandy beaches with shallow tides, allowing you to discover an abundance of marine wildlife. Footpaths on the island lead to wind ravaged cliffs and salt water marshes where bald eagles silently soar above. Access is by boat or a foot passenger ferry located at the end of Beacon Avenue.
Linked to rumrunners in the 1920s using the island as a liquor cache during prohibition, Rum Island is now home to Isle-De Lis Marine Park. The small island's entire 5 hectares are pristine wilderness parklands featuring an arbutus and Douglas fir forest. Its rocky shoreline is ideally suited for observing Orca whales, otters and seal colonies at Tom Point along a trail that circles the island. Access is by private boat.
Ucluelet Area
The southern section of Wild Pacific Trail clutches the shoreline from the southern tip of Ucluth Peninsula, making a 2.7 km loop where you can look down from cliff tops and witness the churning surf crash against rocks below. He-Kin-Tis Park trail is a shorter 1km boardwalk loop through lush rain forest and flora typical of Vancouver Island terrain, offering magnificent views of the bays dotting Ucluelet's Pacific coast. Brochures and maps are available at the visitor's center at the Tofino/Ucluelet highway junction.
You'll find Vancouver Island vacation homes close to all these destinations at Vamoose.com, where you can search by amenities, price and size to find exactly what suits your needs.