Strathcona Park Trails

The Strathcona Park section of the Vancouver Island Trail follows a series of existing trails to and across the Park, including much of the main trail across Forbidden Plateau that dates back to the 1930’s. These well-established, well-marked trails provide access to campgrounds at Mackenzie Lake, Kwai Lake and Circlet Lake. Only hiking on foot is allowed (i.e., no bicycles or horses).

From the Park boundary sign kiosk to a trail junction to Mount Becher, a distance of 1.4 km, the Plateau Trail is more like an old road as it is about 5 metres wide. Much of it has been seriously eroded by water since it was built decades ago, an appalling testament to inadequate maintenance in this the oldest of BC Provincial Parks (established in 1911). Even so, this section affords many good views of subalpine forests dominated by mountain hemlock (a distinct species from the lower-elevation western hemlock), ponds and small lakes, and open grassy-looking meadows dominated by cotton-grass, with numerous other wetland species.

At the trail junction,  bear right to follow the Plateau Trail; the Mount Becher Trail is to the left. You can choose to go either way since another side trail splits off the Becher Trail (to the right) and by way of Ash Pond and Slingshot Meadows re-joins the main Plateau Trail.  All trails are much narrower onward past the junction.

If taking the Plateau Trail, you will find it mainly through closed (i.e.  fairly dense) mountain hemlock forest; whereas the Mount Becher Trail is far more open as it crosses lots of exposed bedrock. On a hot day, the shady Plateau Trail is recommended, but if it is cooler, the more exposed Becher Trail will provide more expansive views. It also allows for a short side-trip to the summit of Mount Becher.

Option A: via the Plateau Trail

Staying right at the junction, the first 200 m past the junction is alongside a wetland and across gentle slopes; but then, the trail drops abruptly downslope across steep sidehills in the upper reaches of the Wattaway Creek valley, including one sharp switchback to your left. You will cross the mainstem of Wattaway Creek at the 1-km mark, which runs dry in mid to late summer (so not a reliable water source). You then climb moderate slopes up and across a low divide into a second tributary valley of the Wattaway to cross a second tributary of the Wattaway (about 2.5 km from the junction: also not a reliable water source). Immediately past this second creek crossing, the trail traverses steep colluvial slopes supporting some fern-rich (lush lady fern patches) and shrub-rich growing sites.

Three kilometers from the Becher junction, a short trail branches off to the right (northeast) to the Drabble Lakes (a good spot for a swim). An open rock outcrop to the west of the first lake (small) and south of the main lake (largest) provides an expansive view to the west  of Mt. Albert Edward and Mt. Jutland and the intervening ridge that is on the route of the VI Trail (some 15 km distant, as the crow flies), with Mount Regan poking up behind this ridge.  Two hundred or so metres past the Drabble side trail, the trail from Mount Becher rejoins the main Plateau Trail, where you will see a sign to Kwai Lake (right) and Slingshot Meadows (ahead and to your left).

Option B: via the Mount Becher Trail & Trail to Ash Pond and Slingshot Meadows

This trail initially goes down the southerly side of the same wetland as the Plateau trail, but soon climbs steadily and steeply across open bedrock terrain with a mix of heath (heather-dominated vegetation), sparsely vegetated outcrops and clumps of mountain hemlock,  an ecosystem pattern known as Mountain Hemlock Parkland (i.e., as opposed to Mountain Hemlock Forest).

Somewhat over 500 metres along the trail is a side trail (to the left) that goes down to Boston Lake, situated in a glacial cirque with a precipitous rock cliff headwall. In the next couple of hundred meters, an open rock ridge at about the 1200-metre elevation provides good views to the north, with some of the Drabble Lakes at times visible. Distant views easterly over Georgia Straight to the BC Mainland and Coast Mountains are also impressive in clear weather. There is a small lake, 1.25 km along the Becher Trail to your right, and a clearing/campsite on your left with two concrete chimney foundations, with cast-in dates in the 1930’s. This was the site of the Mount Becher Cabin which served backcountry users for over 50 years.

The small plateau on which the old cabin site and lake is situated abruptly ends at a steep slope that the trail ascends. Approximately 200 metres past the old cabin site as you break out onto the broad ridge leading up to Mt Becher, watch for a rather obscure trail junction some 15-25 metres past an old wooden sign indicating “this way down”.

Straight ahead (uphill) it is less than a half hour to the summit of Mt. Becher, which affords splendid views to the east and westwards towards the Comox Glacier. Bear right and staying more or less level, you will see a light trail that heads towards Ash Pond marked with triangular fluorescent orange trail markers.  Soon, this trail bears directly NW along a linear draw which eventually becomes a sharply incised creek (watch for one potentially hazardous spot where the narrow trail is right on a precipitous drop-off to this creek). Between this creek and Ash Pond, another good spot for a swim on a hot day, the trail winds around/between extensive open bedrock knolls and outcrops. From Ash Pond, you soon drop off these outcrops into taller, denser mountain hemlock forest, at one point coming close to the Park boundary and an old clearcut now with thick regeneration; this is in the uppermost reaches of Pearce Creek that drains southwards into Comox Lake.

After a kilometer or so of this closed forest, the trail breaks out into the open around the margin of Slingshot Meadows, and then climbs uphill somewhat to the east to rejoin the main Plateau Trail, which continues onwards to Kwai Lake.

Back on the main Plateau Trail

For the next 3.2 km, the main Plateau Trail continues across undulating terrain with mountain hemlock forest before breaking out into the fens, swamps, and ponds of Mackenzie Meadows, apart from a localized more open area near a small lake about halfway along this section. There are two trail options across/around Mackenzie Meadows.

The original Plateau Trail crosses much of the open wetland that is underlain by soft organic soils, saturated with water in all but the driest summers. A bypass trail skirts around the south side of the wetlands through closed forest on better drained soils. To minimize your impact on McKenzie Meadows (and impact on the park), the VI Trail hiker should generally take the bypass route. Only use the trail across the wetlands in late summer after a prolonged period of dry weather; and even then, take care to stay on the trail so as not to impact the sensitive vegetation and soils. Even in the driest conditions, you will still have to hop across some deep wetland channels as the old log bridges are mostly collapsed.

Along the western-most 200 metres of the bypass Trail, you will cross an active alluvial fan which supports a relatively rare subalpine fir ecosystem comprised of tall amabilis fir (Pacific silver fir), mountain hemlock and even a few subalpine firs with their distinctive bluish green needles, and with a dense shrub understory of salmonberry. The trail crosses the wetlands inflow creek on a pair of large windfalls.

At about 4 km from the trail junction, at the western end of Mackenzie Meadows, a short trail (200 metres) branches off northwards to the Mackenzie Lake Campsite. Keep in mind that here as throughout Strathcona Park, fires/campfires are not permitted. This is not only to avoid of the risk of starting a wildfire, but also because the consumption of wood in the slow growing subalpine forests seriously impacts subalpine soils, subalpine ecosystems, and the habitats of many species.

The side trail continues along the west side of McKenzie Lake for an additional 200 m to Douglas Lake. On the northeast side of the lake on an open rock outcrop overlooking the lake is a memorial cairn to William Douglas, for whom the lake was named. The inscription on the plaque reads:

“Douglas Lake – Named for William Douglas who is remembered as a generous citizen of Courtenay, as a brilliant, self-taught mathematician and as a keen sportsman who loved and pioneered Forbidden Plateau.”

From the cairn, a trail winds upslope for 150 m to the Douglas Lake Cabin, a well-kept, small, dry log cabin with three bunks, a table, and a bench (a woodstove cannot be used at this time due to lack of a stovepipe).

To the west of McKenzie Meadows, the Plateau Trail initially climbs up alongside the inflow creek gully and is again largely through closed mountain hemlock forest, for another 2 km before regaining more variable cover with a mix of closed forest, more open forest and a few open wetlands and outcrops, a vegetation mix/pattern that continues to near Panther Lake.

Close along the east side of Panther Lake, the trail is again through closed mountain hemlock forest and a refreshing dip in the lake is always an option. Just past the northerly tip of Panther Lake, the trail jogs sharply west to cross over the outlet creek from the lake.

From this creek crossing, the trail continues through the now familiar mix of open and closed forest, open wetlands with ponds to a junction with a trail to Mariwood Lake at 1.4 km: and to a junction with the trail to Kwai Lake at 2.3 km. If you plan to camp at Circlet Lake, consider taking the trail westwards (to your left) at the 1.4 km junction past the south side of Mariwood Lake.

If you plan to camp at Kwai Lake, take the trail to the west at the 2.3 km junction. The trail east (right) from this junction goes via Croteau, Lady and Battleship Lakes to Paradise Meadows and the trailhead (and road access) at Mount Washington, a distance of 7.6 km (good to keep in mind if for some reason you need to get back to civilization and services).

Either way you choose to go, the trails re-join in the vicinity of Whiskey Meadows and the route continues to the west towards Circlet Lake and Circlet Campground that is on the east side of the lake. On the way to Circlet, watch for some old rusty colored piles of waste rock with a small creek winding through them. These deposits were excavated from test pits and hand-driven adits during gold and copper prospecting in the 1930s. As you approach Circlet Lake, the plateau ends; terrain gets rougher, and you soon reach another trail junction.  Go right for several hundred metres to and through the Circlet Campground; straight ahead is the trail to Mt. Albert Edward and Mt. Jutland.

The Circlet Lake Campground has 20 wooden tent platforms, plus an overflow area and several other informal spots to camp when the campsite is full, common on summer weekends. If you can’t find an available platform, do you best to minimize your impact on the fragile vegetation. The heather and other shrubs are many decades if not centuries old, easily damaged (brittle) and exceedingly slow to re-grow (in fact, they won’t re-grow unless reclamation measures are taken to preclude foot traffic, as was done in the Kwai Lake Campground area).  Water is only available from the lake; hence it must be boiled before drinking or use for cooking.  A water filter is recommended since Giardia is reported to be endemic throughout the park.

From Circlet, the route of the VI Trail follows the Albert Edward Trail for about 2.4 km. After an easy start across moderate slopes, the badly eroded trail soon climbs very steeply for about 500 metres directly uphill to a sparsely treed subalpine plateau with several small tarns and ponds. The trail then ascends another steep pitch with lots of exposed bedrock up to the main ridge. A large cairn has old wooden directional signs to Mt. Albert Edward, Mt. Jutland and Gem Lake, however the trail to Albert Edward now stays a bit lower to the south and the cairn and signs are easy to miss.

Once on the main ridge (at or near the sign) the hiker can choose to take a short side-trip southwest then west up to Albert Edward at 2,093 m, the sixth highest on Vancouver Island and well-worth the effort. Either directly or after coming back down from the summit, head northwest along the ridge to and over Jutland Mtn.

Past the cairn, the route is no longer a well-defined trail but merely a route over exposed and frost-shattered bedrock continuing in a northwesterly direction along Jutland Ridge. The route provides spectacular views including the view to Gem Lake situated in a cirque surrounded by dramatic cliffs and defined by the surrounding peaks. Small rock cairns mark the route as far as Mt. Jutland (1820 m summit elevation), but past Jutland the cairns peter out.

Make your own way along the open ridge. By staying towards the northeast side of the ridge, you will get good views of Sunrise Lake. Continuing NW along the ridge, you will pass some small tarns and the ridge remains wide open and treeless to a point about 2.5 km NW of Mt. Jutland. You cross the Strathcona Park boundary at about the 2-km point NW of Jutland and enter private lands owned by Island Timberlands.

---