Vargas Island Provincial Park
Vargas Island Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, comprising the west side of the island of the same name, which is located west of Meares Island and northwest of the resort community of Tofino in the Clayoquot Sound region of the West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The park was created as part of the Clayoquot Land-Use Decision on July 13, 1995 and contains 5788 hectares, 1749 hectares of it being upland and 4039 hectares being foreshore. Also located on Vargas Island, on its north side, is Epper Passage Provincial Park.
Due to its close proximity to Tofino, this island provincial park in Clayoquot Sound is a very popular paddling and wilderness camping destination. Visitors also come here for the exceptional wildlife viewing opportunities offered, including the chance to see Gray whales in the area around Ahous Bay. Naturalists are drawn to this area every spring as the Gray whales pass by the island on their way to summer feeding grounds in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea. It protects the rugged western portion of Vargas Island, Blunden Island and the tiny La Croix Group of islands immediately northwest of Tofino. Much of the island is relatively flat and its interior features a number of bogs.
This island is home to the mammalian species of black bear, cougar, and wolf. There is some concern about wolves in the parks becoming habituated, after two wolves had to be killed because of their attack on a male sleeping camper on July 2, 2000.[1] For both human safety and the future of the wolf population in Clayoquot Sound, food must be stored out of reach of wildlife and animals must not be approached or fed by visitors.
Marine features including exposed rocky coast, sandy beaches, sheltered channels and bays, an intertidal lagoon and mudflats are all protected within the park’s boundaries. It is also home to ancient sand berms – rows of crescent-shaped sand mounds that indicate earlier sea levels. This park area also includes the Cleland Island Ecological Reserve, home to a great diversity of nesting sea bird colonies including the Rhinoceros auklet, Cassin’s auklet, Pigeon guillemot and the Black oystercatcher. Access to the Ecological Reserve is prohibited, as the breeding seabirds are very sensitive to disturbances.
See also
References
Coordinates: 49°10′45″N 126°01′40″W / 49.17917°N 126.02778°W