Cathedral Grove (MacMillan Provincial Park)

Cathedral Grove, part of MacMillan Provincial Park on the road between Parksville and Port Alberni, is the most accessible old-growth forest on Vancouver Island. The Douglas firs here are enormous — the largest are over 800 years old and push 75 metres into the canopy. Walking among them produces the same slightly stunned silence that large cathedrals do, which is how the place got its name.

The main trail on the north side of the highway takes about 20 minutes to loop through the biggest trees. A less-visited section across the road offers quieter walking along the Cameron River. The parking area fills up on summer weekends by mid-morning; arriving early or on a weekday makes the experience considerably more peaceful.

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The largest Douglas fir in Cathedral Grove is over 800 years old, nine metres in circumference, and about 75 metres tall. These trees were already mature when Columbus crossed the Atlantic. The forest survived logging because BC timber magnate H.R. MacMillan donated the land to the province in 1944 — partly out of conservation sentiment, partly, his critics said, because the individual trees were too big for his own mill to process economically.

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