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The popular Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, in southwest Vancouver Island’s Juan de Fuca Park, is set to reopen this summer after closures due to washouts.
The 47-kilometre-long route, which stretches from around Jordan River to just outside Port Renfrew, was first closed after damage due to storms in late 2024 and early 2025.
B.C. Parks says crews have since made significant progress in repairing the trail since then, in collaboration with the local Pacheedaht First Nation.
The province says an exact reopening date for the trail will be announced in mid-May, when major bridge repairs will be near completion.
Juan de Fuca Park, where the trail is located, is among B.C.’s most-used provincial parks — and locals say they’re hopeful the rebuilt trail can be sustained by investments going forward.
“I just hope that people will respect trail closures if they’re there, they will respect detours, they won’t try and take shortcuts on the trail once it’s repaired,” said Rosemary Jorna, director of the Juan de Fuca Community Trails Society.
“It’s too fragile. It opens it [up] to erosion.”
Jorna said the closure of the trail has had a big impact on tourism and local recreation, saying the trail would attract hikers from around Canada and the world.
She said the rebuilt trail appears to feature solid structures — like metal stairways and ladders anchored into rock — that should protect it from future washouts.
“One of the problems with the trail is that it is on gravel for most of it, and very steep slopes with logging above it,” she said.
“So it has been prone to washout and water damage. And I understand that they’re really working hard to mitigate that.”
Over 455,000 visits
The province said crews are installing seven engineered bridges, constructing more than 800 metres of boardwalk and multiple staircases, and rerouting the trail in some spots.
“Minor repairs to existing infrastructure, such as resurfacing worn or eroded sections or repairing damaged railings and small bridge components, will continue throughout the summer and fall, while the trail remains open,” B.C. Parks said in a statement.
The province estimates the repairs cost around $950,000, most of which was funded through federal disaster relief funds.
Heather Blackie, who manages the Eagle Reach Properties holiday homes in Port Renfrew, said the trail had served as an easier option for many hikers, compared to the much longer West Coast Trail.
“The Juan de Fuca, of course, people can pick up sections of it and do that as they choose. So it’s less of a premeditated commitment,” she said.
“They can come and just explore the area. And that’s definitely a way into exploring the area, because it finishes at Port Renfrew.”
Blackie said that storms would always happen on Vancouver Island, and continued investment into the parks system would only benefit local businesses that rely on it.
According to interim data from B.C. Parks, Juan de Fuca Park — where the trail is located — saw just over 455,000 visits in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Each day a park is used by a person counts as one visit, which means a person on a provincial park trail for three days is counted as three visits.