Hike to the Canso Bomber crash in Tofino

This hike was definitely an random adventure that turned out to be a lot of fun. We wanted to look for this plane that we had heard was in the area of Radar Hill in Tofino. We weren’t really sure where exactly to go but knew it was somewhere at the end of a trail.

Off we go.

We parked at the bottom of Radar Hill and hiked south along the highway for a few hundred metres. Just after one of the big bends about a kilometre away from the parking area turn into the bush on a fairly well used trail. It should be good single track. You shouldn’t have to duck through many brambles or branches. If you have, then you’ve turned off too early (or late). The trail is around the telephone pole marked 300.

Continue on up this single track up a hill and down the other side. You will have to go around an old creep abandoned building to do this. You can go inside if you want, there shouldn’t be anything there. At least there wasn’t anything(one?) in it when we were there!

Heading down the other side you’ll get into some pretty muddy territory. It’s quite low and wet in this area so take good boots. I was in trail runners when we did and had to be extra careful but that kept the trail interesting. A couple people ended up in the mud up to their calves, so pick your footing well.

Follow the marked ribbon all the way across the flat marshy area. If you can tell direction well keep heading in the direction of the ocean. You’ll see the land start to slant up before you get to the water in a ridge that runs parallel to the beach. The crash site is on the near side of that ridge. You should come across a couple large pits filled with water that are left from detonating the explosives that were on the plane when it crashed.

You can continue up the hill if you like and get a view of the water. I’m not sure exactly where this trail goes off to as I only checked out about 200 metres of it. It was slightly grown over and my hiking group was tired by the time we reached the plane so we decided to turn around.

Check out this page on pinetreeline for a bit more detailed information about the wreck: http://www.pinetreeline.org/other/other43/other43ad.html.

GPS for this trip:

Having the gps for the trip  was nice but not required. It would definitely help finding the entrace to the trail off the road and the correct trail on the way there. Most of it is marked fairly well.

Gear for this trip:

Colorado 300 GPS – nice to have, not required
Salomon Wings Trail Runners – boots would have made it easier, just pick your footing carefully with runners when it’s muddy.

Extra Links about the trail:

Trailpeak track: http://trailpeak.com/trail-Canso-Crash-Site-near-Tofino-BC-5053

Flickr Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcthink/sets/72157605969155301/

Triptracker track: http://triptracker.net/trip/4064/