Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada 8-day RV Trip

Day 5, May 29, 2025

This is the day to drive our RV to our next stop - Strathcona Provincial Park area. We made the following stops and arrived our campground in the late afternoon.

  • Kennedy Lake

  • Cathedral Grove

  • Elk Falls Provincial Park

  • Ralph River Campground

Kennedy Lake

It is a stretch to call it a “stop” as we just parked at the road shoulder of BC-4 to take a few photos. We didn’t plan to stop in this area, but couldn’t resist the amazing view outside of the window on the lake side.

Kennedy Lake is the largest lake on Vancouver Island, BC. The lake is formed mainly by the confluence of the Clayoquot and Kennedy Rivers. Kennedy Lake Provincial Park is comprised of two sites along the south shore of Kennedy Lake, adjacent to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. This area has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation.

Cathedral Grove

Cathedral Grove is a section of MacMillan Provincial Park that is right off BC-4. It is a popular tourist destination known for its lush old-growth forest of Douglas Fir, Grand Firs, Western Hemlocks, and Western Red Cedar trees. The largest are 800 years old, but most sprouted when a fire opened the forest about 300 years ago. The name probably was inspired by the sunlight filtering through the soaring tall canopy. Interestingly, there is also a Cathedral Grove of redwoods at Muir Woods in the United States.

The park has two sections, with each on either side of BC-4, one is Old-Growth Forest and one is Living Forest. The south section is gravel and mud pathway that can be muddy sometime.

There are some parking spaces at the trailhead on the shoulder of BC-4. However, this is a very busy area, so be prepared to wait for spot, park further away, or slow down when you drive through. That’s why we didn't make too many stops in the morning before getting here, hoping to park our RV in the parking lot. And we found one.

Elk Falls Provincial Park

The beach is too rocky to walk from Tonquin Beach to Third Beach, so the 1.5 km hike in the rainforest is the only option. In the middle of the trip there are several lookout decks constructed on top of the cliff with beautiful views.

There is a tiny lookout point right before arriving at the Third Beach, which is not marked on the map but offers awesome view of the cove.

Third Beach is not big at all, but the U-shaped cove is very pretty surrounded by tall cliffs.

Middle Beach

Continuing hiking alone the 2.1 km trail in the woods south from Third Beach, we arrived the Middle Beach. It is flat, board, and popular. The sky was dark and began to rain. We continued our hike to the our final destination of the day - MacKenzie Beach.

MacKenzie Beach

The beach is only a resort away from the Middle Beach. No one gave us an issue when we cross the resort on its main road. MacKenzie Beach is much larger, and busier with a campground and resorts, shops closely.

Its southern tip is what I like the best: It connects to a small Ponsford Beach, which wraps around the small Ponsford Island. You can also climb onto the island nearby with Ethyn Viewpoint that has a good view of the beach and nearby island.