British Columbia's oldest provincial park, founded in 1911, spans 2,500 square kilometres of the spine of central Vancouver Island just west of the Comox Valley. It contains the highest peak on the island (the Golden Hinde at 2,200 m), Della Falls — one of the tallest waterfalls in Canada at 440 m — and the deepest alpine lake (Buttle).
Day-hikers usually enter via Paradise Meadows at Mount Washington, with trails to Battleship Lake (5 km return) and the much longer climb to Mount Albert Edward. Backpackers head into the Forbidden Plateau or the multi-day Bedwell trail. Drive-up access is from Highway 28 west of Campbell River.