Hiking the Wild Side Trail – Flores Island, July 15-17, 2026
Flores Island is a short distance from Tofino
Our track on Flores
After a smooth 40 minute boat ride from Tofino
We arrived at the Ahousaht First Nation on Flores Island
After a short walk through the reserve, we arrived at the start of the trail
With my friends Michael , Dean, and Mo (Photo by Michael)
For the next two hours, we walked across some beautiful beaches interspersed with the impressive forest. The Ahousaht First Nation, the caretakers of the trail, have undertaken many improvements to the Wild Side.
Wonderful Beaches
Solid boardwalk, stairs, and bridges
Even though we had to take the “Trail of Tears” because the tide was higher than 2 meters, we still made it to camp in less than 4 hours. And this trail was a lot better than I remembered it.
Around our camp at Cow Bay – 11 k from the dock in Ahousaht
A delicious smokey roast on Wednesday
Beautiful rocks near camp
A spectacular sunset on Wednesday!
My tent fly; I didn’t bring the inner tent, to save weight. But it was a little sandy!
Aah, the waves lapping the shore!
Dean limbering up before bed
Thursday dawned foggy
But it wasn’t raining as we started
And at low tide, we chanced upon a spectacular collection of sea stars, clams, and anemones
Some exquisite seaside scrambling on the way to Cow River
One of the squatter’s shacks at Cow River
An assortment of junk at this cabin
One of the many beautiful cedars still left on the island
We couldn’t go along the shore as much on the way back
The trail starts just behind these logs at the end of Cow Bay
Nut butter and honey sandwich back at camp
Cow Bay is blessed with a composting toilet and a bear cache
The rain set in after we returned to camp, but we were comfy under Dean’s tarp
My Dinner – Fireside Grill
The rain diminished before bed, and the dusky light was gorgeous!
We started off at 8:30 on Friday in a light rain
We were able to stay on the shore for most of the return trip
We could take the low tide route instead of Kutcous Trail
It was tricky getting across the tide channel, even with a tide of 0.2 M
From there it was a short walk to the end of the trail, and through the reserve to the dock, where our skipper Kenny Brown was waiting for us.
