Strathcona Provincial Park surrounds Gold River and lines the approach road for most of the 80-kilometre drive from Campbell River. Established in 1911 as British Columbia's first provincial park, it covers nearly 250,000 hectares of mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and old-growth forest at the centre of Vancouver Island. The highest point on the island, Golden Hinde at 2,195 metres, is within the park.
The park has no staffed visitor facilities in the Gold River section, but there are campgrounds, hiking trails of varying difficulty, and kayak access to a string of lakes. Rock climbing in Strathcona is serious and rewarding — there are routes on granite walls that receive very little traffic, from beginner-friendly slabs to 5.12+ faces. White water kayakers use the rivers in the park year-round. Wildlife includes black bear, Roosevelt elk, wolves, and cougar. Come self-sufficient: cell coverage is minimal and rescue resources are limited.