The best camping near Juan de Fuca Provincial Park

Clinging to the edge of Vancouver Island’s Wild Coast, Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is a wilderness wonderland. It provides a mix of outdoor activities, from hiking through ancient cedar forests and swimming off white-sand beaches to exploring deep tidal pools and surfing ice-cold breaks. China Beach Campground has 78 drive-in campsites, but overnight vehicle camping is also permitted at the China Beach (Juan de Fuca East), Parkinson Creek, and Sombrio Beach trailheads. Beach and forest camping are available along the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, a strenuous, multi-day, 47-kilometre hike featuring rugged coastline, rushing rivers, and untouched forests.

• Best for families: Since China Beach Campground is the only vehicle-accessible site with taps and pit toilets, this is the one to pick if you’re bringing young kids.
• Best for waterfall lovers: Mystic Beach is the first campsite along the eastern section of the Juan de Fuca Trail and features a creek cascading over a sandstone cliff down to the beach.
• Best for surfers: The surf at Sombrio Beach is a well-kept local secret—1.4 kilometres may seem like a long way to haul a board and a tent, but it’s worth it.

1. Reservations for the China Beach Campground are open from May 14 until Sept. 5 through BC Parks’ Discover Camping website. They also set aside some first-come, first-served (FCFS) sites, with check-in between 7am and 10pm, but get there early—this is a hotspot for locals and visitors.  

2. For FCFS sites, you’ll need to self-register and deposit cash envelopes (bring exact change, as cards aren’t accepted) into safes at each trailhead.

3. If hiking in and camping along the Juan de Fuca Trail, you can buy your backcountry camping permit from the BC Parks Backcountry Registration System and prepay for the trip.

China Beach Campground is only open in the summer months, which isn’t a bad thing because the winter weather on the west coast of Vancouver Island is really wet and cold. That being said, the Juan de Fuca Trail is open year-round, so if you’re brave (and an experienced hiker), there’s nothing stopping you. July and August are peak season, so if you can go on either side of these months, you’ll avoid trail bottlenecking.

• Bears roam these areas so use the food caches provided at the Mystic Beach, China Beach, Bear Beach, Sombrio Beach, Little Kuitsche Creek, and Payzant Creek campsites. If they’re full, you will need to rig up your own, so don’t forget rope.  
• There are pit toilets at the China Beach Campsite and along the Juan de Fuca Trail. If you can’t make it to one, you’ll need to dig a hole 100 metres away from water sources, trails, and people. Bring a trowel and paper!