North Island. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Safety information
Access
Logging trucks are present on the gravel access road from Port Hardy to the Cape Scott trail head. Drive with caution and lights on at all times. Always yield to logging trucks and be mindful of pull outs. It is best to pull to the side of the road and let trucks pass.
The following links are the park use permit holders with permission to transport visitors to and from the park:
Wildlife Safety
Visitors should be prepared to encounter bears and wolves throughout Cape Scott.
Read the bear safety guidelines and the wolf safety guidelines.
- Ensure your vehicle is locked and windows are closed. Food and other attractants must be secured in the trunk of the vehicle. Bears have broken into vehicles parked in the Cape Scott Park.
- During low tide, bears frequent the shoreline turning over rocks in search of food on the North Coast Trail, Nahwitti River area. Camp only within the developed campsite area, avoid camping along in close proximity to shoreline areas.
Hiking and Camping
- School hiking groups registration
- Detailed hiking and trail information
- All campers and hikers should be prepared for extremely cold and wet conditions year-round.
- The boardwalk is extremely slippery when wet. Please avoid hiking beside the boardwalk and off the established trail as this increases sediment flow and will damage the sensitive riparian habitat.
- Water sources are very limited. Carry an adequate supply of drinking water or be prepared to boil or treat water.
- Please pack out what you pack in and use Leave No Trace while visiting the park.
Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.
Visit responsibly
Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:
Maps and location
- Park map [PDF] (updated June 2008)
- Brochure [PDF]
- Brochure map [PDF]
Getting there
National Topographic Series maps, scale 1:50,000, Index No. 102, Sheets i/9 and i/16 cover the Cape Scott area. These maps are available from most map retailers in British Columbia.
Cape Scott is a hike-in park, located at the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island. The only parking lot within the park, located near the southeast corner, provides easy access to the Cape Scott and San Josef Bay Trailhead. The lot, which is located 64 kilometres west of Port Hardy, can be reached by driving on a combination of public highways and private, active logging roads.
Port Hardy is the northern terminus of Highway 19, which connects with Vancouver Island communities south to Victoria, it is also the southern terminus of the British Columbia Ferries service to Prince Rupert. Port Hardy is also served by regularly scheduled air and bus lines. The community of Winter Harbour is another settlement southwest of the park that offers tourist amenities, RV campsites, fuel and a general store.
- For additional information on transportation options to the park, visit the North Coast trail shuttle’s webpage.
Camping
Backcountry camping
There are 11 designated camp pads located at Eric Lake, available on a first come, first served basis. There is no longer a campsite at Donaldson Farm.
Random wilderness camping is also allowed in this park.
Reservations and fees
Cape Scott Park is open year-round (check website for updates on trail conditions in case areas are closed for safety reasons). Fees are only collected from May 1 to September 30 when backcountry services are provided.
Backcountry camping fee
- $10 per adult (16+) per night
- $5 per youth (6–15) per night
You can get a camping permit before leaving home on the backcountry permit registration service. Although the system does not reserve a campsite, the system provides visitors the convenience of prepaying for their trip and not having to carry cash. We encourage all visitors to register online so we can reduce the need to collect fees in the field.
Self-registration vaults are located at the San Josef River boat launch and trailhead.
When visiting the backcountry, always follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. To learn more about staying safe in the backcountry, read our backcountry guide.
Backcountry areas
Wilderness camping
Random wilderness camping is allowed in this park.
- No facilities other than food caches (at Guise Bay, Nels Bight, San Josef, Nissen Bight, and Eric Lake) and pit toilets are provided.
- Please camp on the beach whenever possible.
- If you erect a temporary shelter, please dismantle it entirely when you and return the site to its natural state before you leave so that others may enjoy the surroundings as you have.
- Please practice Leave No Trace camping ethics.
When visiting the backcountry, always follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. To learn more about staying safe in the backcountry, read our backcountry guide.
Things to do
For your own safety and preservation of the park obey posted signs and keep to designated trails. Shortcutting, switchbacking, skirting mud holes, and trampling across meadows and boggy ground destroy the plant life and soil structure, thus increasing erosion and deterioration of the trails.
There are no designated swimming areas at Cape Scott Park, however the beaches at Nels Bight and San Josef Bay are popular destinations for swimmers. Please be aware of sometimes intense surf conditions and possible riptides.
There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.
Canoeing is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in San Josef Bay, where there is a BC Parks boat launch.
Kayaking is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in San Josef Bay, where there is a BC Parks boat launch. More experienced kayakers can make the trip from Port Hardy and around the Cape, finishing in Winter Harbour or Coal Harbour. San Josef Bay has also become a popular spot for surf kayaking, particularly in the spring and fall when waves are larger.
Fishing is permitted as per provincial and federal fishing regulations. All anglers should check the current regulations issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada prior to fishing.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
The scenery in this park is incredible no matter where you are. The view from the top of Mount St. Patrick offers spectacular panoramic views of San Josef Bay and down into Sea Otter Cove and the unspoiled wilderness of Cape Scott Park.
Dogs are permitted in San Josef Bay only. Dogs are prohibited in all other areas of Cape Scott including all sites on the North Coast trail.
Warning: a wolf advisory in in effect.
Portions of the park are open to hunting for specific species. Please refer to the current annual hunting and trapping regulations synopsis for closures and regulations. All hunters must have valid licences and tags.
Anyone hunting in British Columbia must comply with BC hunting regulations. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
This park is open year-round. The camping rules noted above apply, however there is no winter camping fee.
Facilities
The 2.5 km trail to San Josef Bay has been resurfaced with crushed material, and an existing section of the boardwalk has been extended. The trail is barrier-free with some slopes exceeding 8.33%. Accessible parking and an accessible pit toilet are available at the trailhead.
BC Parks’ boat launch is accessed via San Josef Heritage Park, but it is a BC Parks facility. It is for canoes and kayaks and small car-toppers only. The San Josef River is tidal at this spot so don’t plan on using the launch at low tide or you may be hauling over gravel bars.
While fires are allowed, we encourage visitors to conserve the environment by minimizing the use of fire and using stoves instead. Two communal fire rings are provided at Eric Lake and three at Nels Bight. Campers are requested to not bury their beach campfires. Several visitors have been burned where fires have been buried. Please practice Leave No Trace camping ethics.
Campfire bans may be in place. Before lighting a fire, check for bans or restrictions on BC Wildfire Service and on local or Indigenous government websites.
There are 10 pit toilets available throughout the park. There are no flush toilets at this park.
About this park
Three native peoples, the Tlatlasikwala, Nakumgilisala, and Yutlinuk, shared the Cape Scott area prior to white settlement. The Yutlinuk of the Scott Islands died out in the early 1800s. The Nakumgilisala and Tlatlasikwala amalgamated in the mid-1850s and moved to Hope Island, where they remained until 1954. That year, numbering only 32, they joined with the Koskimo people and moved to Quatsino Sound. Today they are known collectively as the Nahwitti. They have six reserves, three of which are within the boundaries of Cape Scott Park.
Cape Scott was named in 1786 in honour of David Scott, a Bombay merchant who was one of the principal backers of a trading voyage to this area. The naming was done by Captain Guise and Captain Lowrie of, respectively, the Experiment and the Captain Cook. Remote and inhospitable, the history of Cape Scott has been shaped by its heavy rainfalls and violent windstorms.
Cultural buffs will appreciate the rich history of the area, which was first inhabited by the Nahwitti people prior to white settlement.
Danish Pioneers
From 1897 to 1907 the first white settlement attempt was made at Cape Scott. The settlers were Danes, mostly from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota, they were hoping to establish an ethnic community around Hansen Lagoon and Fisherman Bay. The colony hoped to subsist initially on fishing until the government followed through on its agreement to build a road from Fisherman Bay to San Josef River and on to Holberg. This road was to provide the link necessary so that the settlers would be able to get their beef and dairy products to market. Unfortunately the road never materialized. The colony struggled to survive by fishing and trapping mink, river otter, and beaver for their pelts. Eventually the trapping petered out and the men were forced to leave to fish at Rivers Inlet or to work in mines or logging camps. By 1907, the settlers had acknowledged the failure of their colony and plans were made for departure. Today, little remains of the Danish settlement except the names (Nels Bight, Hansen Lagoon, Frederiksen Point) and a few fragile buildings and other man-made relics.
The population of the area between Cape Scott and Holberg numbered less than 60 in 1909. By 1913, another wave of settlers had arrived from Washington State, the prairie provinces, Eastern Canada and Europe to occupy land available for pre-emption. Many of these settlers established themselves in homes vacated by the Danes near Hansen Lagoon. Others took up land and built homes at Fisherman Bay and San Josef Bay. The population of the second settlement peaked at over 1,000, then began a slow decline as the new residents encountered the same hardships as the Danes had experienced. Conscription in 1917 for service in the First World War brought an end to this second community and soon Cape Scott was virtually deserted again.
Requirements of national security during the Second World War led to the construction of a small radar station at Cape Scott in 1942, which remained in operation until 1945. Today, remnants of human activity can be seen throughout Cape Scott Park. Please be careful when exploring historic sites. Rusting tools and implements, dilapidated buildings and old wells can be hazardous. Please do not remove artifacts or disturb sites.
Upland areas of the park are forested with red and yellow cedar, lodge pole pine, hemlock and true fir. The rugged coastline of the park is dominated by concentrations of old-growth Sitka spruce A thick undergrowth is made up mostly of salal, salmonberry, evergreen huckleberry, and fern. The highest point in Cape Scott Park is Mt. St. Patrick, which rises 422 metres above sea level. Eric Lake, at 44 hectares, is the largest body of fresh water.
Hansen Lagoon is a stopping place for Canada geese and a variety of wildfowl traveling the Pacific Flyway. The ubiquitous gull and other sea birds frequent the shoreline. Coastal black-tailed deer, Roosevelt elk, black bears, cougars, and wolves are found in the forested and open uplands. Seals, sea lions, sea otters, killer whales, and gray whales all inhabit the waters offshore. Visitors to San Josef Bay will often see river otters and mink in the river and estuary, as well as Canada geese, common merganser and, in the winter, Trumpeter swans.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.
Contact
| North Coast Trail information | This park is operated by 43K Wilderness Solutions. |
|---|---|
| General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
