A camping trip to the northern part of Vancouver Island offered my husband Bob and I, along with camping buddies Rick and Deanna, a great opportunity to explore Marble River Provincial Park and many of the natural sites in the area.

Marble River Provincial Park is 1,419 hectares (5.5 sq mi) and includes the Marble River and surrounding area from its headwaters at Alice Lake to its estuary at Quatsino Narrows. The river flows through a shallow canyon, bordered by forests of Western Hemlock, balsam and red alder.  It is this canyon that the Marble River Trail follows ending at Quatsino Sound, 4.2 km away.

It takes roughly 1 ½ hours to hike the trail, unless, like our intrepid little group, you check out all of the side trails that lead down to the fishing holes. Hikers and mountain bikers share this trail, so please use caution and courtesy.

About 2/3 of the way along the trail you will find Bear Falls and a salmon spawning viewing area. Late summer to fall are the best times to watch for these remarkable fish, with the added probability of seeing a bear.

This park can also be accessed by boat at Quatsino Sound, a water-access only community, where visitor information and a local museum can be found.

Camping

There are no camping facilities at Marble River Provincial Park, but there is a Recreation Site run by WP Forests near the entrance of the trail. There are 16 sites and a pit toilet. The sites do have picnic tables and fire pits. There is a boat launch onto Alice Lake right across the road.

We camped at Link River Campground, a recreation site run and maintained by the Regional District of Mount Waddington. The site we had was right on Alice Lake and big enough for our camping van, and Rick and Deanna’s van and tent. We had to bring in our own water, but pit toilets were supplied. It was wonderful to get up in the morning, grab a coffee and paddle out onto the lake to try and catch some fish for breakfast. In the heat of the afternoon the winds would start to blow and we sat in the shade of a small copse of trees with iced tea and watched the small whitecaps.

Other Activities

If you are looking for more activities than fishing, paddling, and hiking, there is a lovely Alice Lake Loop Tour that will take you to a beautiful waterfall flowing from a shelf in the mountain named the Eternal Fountain, several small lakes and recreation sites, and the only cenote (suh–noh-tee) in Canada, “The Devil’s Bath”.

A note about the cenote: If you have been to the cenotes in Mexico, you may be disappointed with this one. A cenote is a large sinkhole that has typically filled with water. Other countries have developed these phenomena into beautiful swimming holes. Our Canadian version is indeed a deep sinkhole in the wilderness, and has water at the bottom, but is also a catch-all for fallen trees and debris. There is no trail to the bottom, and the trail around the hole has guardrails all around. Please watch your step!! Interesting, though, is the information sign that explains how and why the sinkhole occurred.

There are bears in the area, so use caution when out walking.  Bear bells are a good idea.  Generally speaking, if a bear hears people, they will stay away from them.  But they are unpredictable, and watch for fresh signs that will tell you they are around (freshly scratched trees, steaming poop).

There are 2 communities close by, Port Alice and Port McNeill. Port McNeill is the larger community and is a great place to treat yourself to dinner and a bit of shopping.

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