We were looking for a day hike to do in the Jordan River to Port Renfrew area, and a friend told us about the unmarked hiking trail that takes you to ancient old growth forest on Vancouver island and down to the gorgeous Chin beach (which I had never heard of) along the Juan de Fuca Trail.
Holy wow! it was a good tip. The Vancouver Island old growth forest is breathtaking. and the beach at the end of the trail is glorious and unique with rock formations.
The trailhead
To find the trail head, from Victoria take Hwy 14 past Sooke. Go past Jordan River, heading towards Port Renfrew on the west coast side of Vancouver Island. The drive is about 90 minutes from Victoria.
At Pole 217 there is a pullout on the road where you can park. When we went there were a couple other cars there, and it was easy to find. Cross the road, and there is a trail cut through the brush, going down.
The boardwalk in the ancient old growth forest
After a short walk through newer forest, you will suddenly see a glorious giant of a tree in front of you. (See picture).
Just one single lone cedar tree in among much smaller new growth.
After hugging and admiring this tree, to find the patch of old growth forest, you need to leave the main path, which continues on straight past this tree.
At the giant old tree, there is a path to the left. It was a bit hard to find as it is a much smaller path than the main path.
Walk a few minutes, and you will hit a boardwalk, that has been made to protect the forest here. (See the feature picture!)
And you will find yourself surrounded by ancient huge old trees in a patch of westcoast old growth rainforest.
After enjoying the scene for a while, walk back out to the main path at the first old growth tree and continue on down that path.
Chin Beach on the Juan de Fuca Trail Vancouver Island
The trail down to the beach is harder and longer than I was expecting. I was expecting a Mystic Beach type hike, but this hike is quite a bit harder and steeper than the Mystic Beach hike. Unfortunately, none of us had a watch or fitbit or GPS, so we don’t know how long it took or how far it was, but it was probably a solid hour or so each way. Parts of the trail are rough but for the most part the trail is clear and, while you may have to clamour over a log here and there, it is a good trail.
When you hit the end of the trial, you walk out through a pretty awesome looking camp site along the Juan de Fuca trail, at Chin Beach.
The rock formations on the beach are amazing, with little tide pools and a rocky barrier where the waves crash in.
This is an awesome day hike, with a ton of variety and absolutely gorgeous scenery.
You could also do this as an overnight camping trip, as Chin Beach is along the Juan de Fuca trail. If you go to the left when you hit the beach, we were told there is a hut for hikers. WE saw a number of people who were doing the whole multi-day Juan de Fuca trail, but if you just wanted to do a part of the trail, this is a good place to get on or off.
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