A little over 1.5 hours outside of Victoria, you can get to Mystic Beach, between Jordan River and Port Renfrew. This beach and campsite offers magnificent views of the ocean and many wonderful trails to explore in the woods. The first trail that we decided to take was about a 2 hour hike through a thick forest with many steep inclines along the edge of a cliff that overlooked the water. The trail was mainly unmarked, with some steps and rope to hold on to along the way to guide you. Throughout the trail, we crossed over many small streams and waterfalls. This is one of the most scenic hikes I have found on this side of Vancouver Island so far. Just over halfway into our walk, we reached a suspension bridge that helped us to cross over Pete Wolf Creek. It was an amazing walk, although it did leave me a bit out of breathe and I needed to take a break to recover and enjoy the view. After crossing the bridge and reaching the end of our route, we turned around and began on the same pathway back.
On the way back, we took a bit of a detour and cut our way across to the China Beach trail. China beach day trail was an easier walk (about 15-20 mins) that took us a bit more into the forest on our way back and away from the sound of the ocean waves crashing for the first half of this trail. The trail reconnected with the golden sandy beach, which we walked on our way back to the parking lot. China beach was a bit less busy then Mystic beach was and it allowed us to fully appreciate the view and walk. This final stretch of our hike was an amazing way to end this day trip that offered lots of variety’s of views and trials for you to explore and enjoy.
