Comments on: West Coast Trail Camping: Your Complete Guide

By: Taryn Eyton

Taryn Eyton — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 18:24:36 +0000

In reply to Marie. Hi Marie. Sorry if that wasn't clear. While it is legal to camp anywhere along the trail, as you said, it is not practical to do so.

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 21:01:55 +0000

Hi Taryn! Thank you very much for all your blog posts about the West Coast Trail. All the info you provided were truly helpful to help prepare our trip that took place last week.
However, after reading this article and particularly “You can camp anywhere along the trail; you don’ t have to camp in a designated campground.” I was under the impression that we could camp anywhere. This might be allowed but in practice, there is no place in the forest to pitch a tent. After reading your blog, a fellow hiker I talked with during the trail was under the same impression and surprised that there was nowhere to camp in the forest (aside the few spots at designed campsites). Therefore, I would strongly encourage you to review this wording as it has misled some hikers.
Thanks again for all your hard work putting all those info together!

By: Taryn Eyton

Taryn Eyton — Sun, 16 May 2021 17:24:10 +0000

In reply to Angela.

Hi Angela. You can find a complete break down of how long each section takes in my West Coast Trail section-by-section guide: https://dawnoutdoors.com/west-coast-trail-sections/. You should allow 4-5 hours to get from Thrasher to the southern trailhead.

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 16 May 2021 00:20:29 +0000

Hi thank you for this great description. I’m wondering how long to allow for from most southern campsite (thrasher) to south end of trail. Hope to make the bus which leaves at 1

By: Taryn Eyton

Taryn Eyton — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 21:03:31 +0000

In reply to Jake. Dare Beach is only passable at tides below 2.1m so the only way to camp there would be if you timed the tides, which would be pretty much impossible since you will always experience a high tide at some point each night, and the high tides are normally about 2.5 to 4 meters. Cribs Creek is only 1.5km from Dare Beach and is the most common place for people to camp in this stretch. I recommend a night at Cribs in most of my West Coast Trail itineraries. If you're planning to stop between Bonilla Point (km 48) and Tsusiat (km 25) then I'd recommend Cribs Creek (km 41.5) or the paid camping at Nitnaht Narrows (km 32.2). This stretch is the most awkward for most hikers as the camps are not well spaced so you are bound to have a longer day than you'd like in there somewhere.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 20:03:43 +0000

Hi Taryn,

Thank you for this AMAZING reference for the WCT. I am doing some planning, in anticipation things are going to open come next year. Do you have any info on camping at Dare Beach? i.e., have you seen what it looks like and if it would be sufficient at high tide? Do you know of anyone who has camped there? Been searching the net and it seems impossible to find any pictures of people camping here. It seems to be the ideal spot to break up between Bonilla Point and Tsusiat. I realize there are less ammenities there (outhouses, bear cache etc…) but it still seems to be an ideal stopping point. Thanks!