Port Renfrew

Port Renfrew is located at the end of the scenic West Coast Road (Highway 14), on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, 66 miles (107 km) northwest of Victoria, Port Renfrew calls itself The Jewel of the West Coast, where you can experience the tranquility and beauty that has made the West Coast so famous.

Port Renfrew is located at the end of the scenic West Coast Road (Highway 14), on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, 66 miles (107 km) northwest of Victoria.

Port Renfrew is situated on the inlet known as Port San Juan, named Puerto de San Juan in 1790 by Manuel Quimper, a Spanish explorer who charted the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the late 18th century.

As mail addressed to Port San Juan was frequently delivered to the San Juan Islands in error, settlers renamed their post office Port Renfrew in 1895 in honour of Lord Renfrew, who at one stage planned to settle Scottish crofters to work the land in the San Juan Valley.

Port Renfrew is best known as the trailhead for both the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail and the historic West Coast Trail, a world-famous hiking trail built in 1907 to save sailors shipwrecked on the rugged coastline. Both routes are rigorous hikes, with steep grades and roaring surf at almost every turn.

Port Renfrew is the southern trailhead of the West Coast Trail, which lies within the southern boundaries of Pacific Rim National Park, and runs for almost 77km along the west side of Vancouver Island between Port Renfrew and Bamfield in the north. If you're planning to begin from Port Renfrew, you must make arrangements to be transported across Port San Juan to the trailhead at the mouth of Gordon River.

The northern terminus of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail is also located near Port Renfrew. The trail leads for almost 30 miles (47 km) along the south-western coast of Vancouver Island, from Botanical Beach to China Beach. Intended to be an alternative to the increasingly popular West Coast Trail, the easiest section of the trail is near its northern terminus at Botanical Beach

The Pacific Marine Circle Tour is an excellent way to explore the historic West Coast of Vancouver Island. The wilderness route traces the coastline from Victoria through Sooke and Port Renfrew, continuing onto the Cowichan Valley and looping back down the Trans-Canada Highway via Duncan to Victoria.

Port Renfrew boasts great salmon and halibut fishing, with record catches not uncommon in this area. Cod, bass and crab are also regularly caught by avid saltwater anglers, while the San Juan River offers excellent freshwater fishing for cutthroat trout and steelhead. Tourist information, supplies, accommodation, camping facilities and fishing charters are all available in Port Renfrew.