Raft Cove Provincial Park

Last updated
Raft Cove Provincial Park
A full moon halo lights up Raft Cove Beach.jpg
Panoramic view
Canada Vancouver Island relief map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Canada British Columbia relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location British Columbia, Canada
Nearest city Port Hardy
Coordinates 50°35′10″N128°14′13″W / 50.58611°N 128.23694°W / 50.58611; -128.23694
Area7.87 km2 (3.04 sq mi)
EstablishedJanuary 8, 1990 (1990-13-08)
Governing body BC Parks
Raft Cove Provincial Park

Raft Cove Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located south of San Josef Bay on northwestern Vancouver Island.

Contents

Raft Cove Provincial Park is located on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, 65 km (40 mi) southwest of Port Hardy, British Columbia. The park was established on March 8, 1990. The park is 787 hectares (1,940 acres) in size, for which 444 hectares (1,100 acres) are land, and 343 hectares (850 acres) are water.

Geography and ecology

Raft Cove contains features characteristic of the Nahwitti Lowland Landscape such as rounded hills, poorly drained areas, rugged coastline and western hemlock and western red cedar forests. Other park features include a river estuary and a long spit and crescent-shaped sandy beach. Raft Cove is home to a significant population of black bears, who forage along the creek beds and beach in the park. Wolves, cougars, black-tailed deer, raccoons, river otters, red squirrels, and a variety of bird species can also be found in the area.

Recreation

Backcountry camping, hiking, swimming, and board-surfing in the heavy surf are available recreational activities. The ocean currents are too rough for windsurfing opportunities, but board-surfing at Raft Cove has become more popular with surfers trying to find new challenges and opportunities. The remoteness of this park, along with good waves, makes it a great, uncrowded place to surf.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Rim National Park Reserve</span> National park reserve in British Columbia, Canada

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a 511 km2 (197 sq mi) national park located in British Columbia, Canada, which comprises three separate regions: Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. It is located in the Pacific Coast Mountains, which are characterized by rugged coasts and temperate rainforests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf Islands National Park Reserve</span> National park reserve in British Columbia, Canada

Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is a national park located on and around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada. In the National Parks System Plan, this park provides representation of the Strait of Georgia Lowlands natural region, the only place in Canada with a Mediterranean climate of dry, sunny summers and mild, wet winters, the result of a rain shadow effect from surrounding mountains between the region and the ocean. It has similar dominant vegetation as the Pacific Northwest, such as coastal Douglas-fir, western red cedar, shore pine, Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, and red alder, but also contains the northern extent of some of the more drought tolerant trees such as Garry oak and Arbutus. The park was created in 2003 as the fortieth national park. It covers 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi) of area on 16 islands and more than 30 islets, reefs and surrounding waters, making it the sixth smallest national park in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qualicum Beach</span> Town in British Columbia, Canada

Qualicum Beach is a town located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. In the 2021 census, it had a population of 9,303. It is situated at the foot of Mount Arrowsmith, along the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island's northeastern coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornby Island</span> Island and human settlement in British Columbia, Canada

Hornby Island of British Columbia, Canada, is one of the two northernmost Gulf Islands, the other being Denman Island. It is located near Vancouver Island's Comox Valley,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Parts of this article have been adapted from the BC Parks website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Scott Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Cape Scott Provincial Park extends from Shushartie in the east, then westward around Cape Scott and south to San Josef Bay. This coastline comprises the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The 22,294-hectare (55,090-acre) provincial park is about 563 km (350 mi) northwest of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan de Fuca Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is a provincial park located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established on April 4, 1996 by combining three former parks — China Beach, Loss Creek, and Botanical Beach — into one provincial park. It is the location of the majority of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, which is a southern compliment to the West Coast Trail within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitson Island Marine Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Kitson Island Marine Provincial Park is a provincial park protecting all 45 hectares of Kitson Island and Kitson Islet. The park is located within the asserted traditional territory of the Tsimshian and Metlakatla First Nation, at the mouth of the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacMillan Provincial Park</span> Park in British Columbia, Canada

MacMillan Provincial Park is a 301-hectare (740-acre) provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Located 25 km (16 mi) west of Qualicum Beach and 16 km (9.9 mi) east of Port Alberni, the park straddles Highway 4 and the Island Rail Corridor in central Vancouver Island. It is nestled on the western shore of Cameron Lake, and protects the delta of the Cameron River. The park is home to a famous, 157-hectare (390-acre) stand of ancient Douglas fir, known as Cathedral Grove, which draws visitors from all over the world. The park provides the only highway-accessible protected old-growth Douglas-fir forest in British Columbia. In 2007 Cathedral Grove made the short list on CBC's competition Seven Wonders of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miracle Beach Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Miracle Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Located between Comox and Campbell River, the park includes a foreshore area in the Strait of Georgia, much of the Black Creek estuary, and a forested area. According to its Master Plan, it fulfills primarily a recreational role with a focus on beach play, picnicking, nature appreciation, and camping, and a secondary conservation role with a focus on the natural shoreline and estuary. In support of its recreational focus the park is developed with a day-use parking area with accessible trails leading to the shoreline and a camping area with 200 drive-in sites. The park is also hosts a nature centre building and a sheltered group picnic shelter. Vegetation in the park is typical for the region's second-growth forests with Douglas-fir most prominent. Common associates include Western hemlock, Sitka spruce, red alder and bigleaf maple. Salal and sword fern are the most abundant shrub. Black Creek, which flows through the park, is a spawning area for coho salmon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitlenatch Island Nature Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Mitlenatch Island Nature Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada encompassing Mitlenatch Island, a small islet in the northern Strait of Georgia within the Strathcona Regional District.

Nitinat River Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian province of British Columbia on Vancouver Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy Lake (Vancouver Island)</span> Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Kennedy Lake is the largest lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Located north of Ucluelet on the island's central west coast, the lake is formed chiefly by the confluence of the Clayoquot and Kennedy Rivers. Outflow is via a short stretch of the Kennedy River into Tofino Inlet. The lake includes an extensive northern arm called Clayoquot Arm.

Schoen Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in northeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, located east of the community of Woss Lake and southwest of Sayward. The park lies inside the Nimpkish Valley watershed. On October 28, 1977, the "Class A" park was officially created to protect, exhibit and interpret an example of the natural features and processes of the Insular Mountains Natural Region. The park covers a total area of 8,775 hectares. Within those hectares of park land is a number of lakes, creeks and mountain ranges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Inlet Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Sydney Inlet Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Clayoquot Sound region of the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, located north of the settlement of Hot Springs Cove and northwest of the resort town of Tofino. Sydney Inlet was the name of the post office in the area from its creation in 1947 to 1948, when it was renamed Hot Springs Cove, though that post office was subsequently closed in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strathcona Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, and the largest on Vancouver Island. Founded in 1911, the park was named for Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, a wealthy philanthropist and railway pioneer. It lies within the Strathcona Regional District. The Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve, established in 2000, includes three watersheds in the western area of the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Arm</span> Fjord in British Columbia

Indian Arm is a steep-sided glacial fjord adjacent to the city of Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia. Formed during the last Ice Age, it extends due north from Burrard Inlet, between the communities of Belcarra and the District of North Vancouver, then on into mountainous wilderness. Burrard Inlet and the opening of Indian Arm was mapped by Captain George Vancouver and fully explored days later by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano in June 1792.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keats Island (British Columbia)</span> Place in British Columbia, Canada

Keats Island is an inhabited island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. Most people who spend time on the island are visitors to one of the camps or the Marine Park, or owners of seasonal cottages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tofino</span> District municipality in British Columbia, Canada

Tofino is a town of approximately 2,516 residents on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The District of Tofino is located at the western terminus of Highway 4 on the tip of the Esowista Peninsula at the southern edge of Clayoquot Sound. It is situated in the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Checleset Bay</span> Bay in British Columbia, Canada

Checleset Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located southeast of Brooks Peninsula and northwest of Kyuquot Sound. Much of the land around the bay is part of Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park. Checleset Bay has three large inlets, Nasparti Inlet, Ououkinsh Inlet, and Malksope Inlet.

References