A buddy and I camped Pacific Rim through two soaked days, and the Lighthouse Loop in Ucluelet turned out to be the best move we made.
Rain is normal on this coast, even in late June. A buddy and I camped a couple of nights in Pacific Rim National Park. Thursday night we drove into Tofino to watch a band play. Friday morning, it was raining hard, so we decided to head down to Ucluelet, starting with the Lighthouse Loop at Amphitrite Point.
There are ways to enjoy a day out here even in steady rain, and this loop is a good place to feel why they call it a rainforest.
The loop is just under 3 km, and it felt like it, a full walk, not a quick stroll. We parked in the first lot off Coast Guard Road, one of three spots you can park along the route depending on which end you start from, and headed into the trees.
The forest is fairly thick along most of the trail, giving us a nice canopy that helped keep us dry. It thins out closer to the lighthouse, where Amphitrite Point Lighthouse comes into view, a square concrete tower set right on the rocks. The current tower dates to 1915, built to replace an earlier lighthouse that couldn’t handle the storms out here.
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There’s a new interpretive centre near the lighthouse, the Amphitrite House, opened in 2025 in the old lightkeeper’s house. A naturalist inside was happy to answer any questions about the marine life and coastal ecology of the point.
The rest of the loop keeps giving small yet breathtaking views instead of one big one. Benches show up at regular spots, and the trail ducks behind trees and rock outcrops so each clearing shows a different angle on Barkley Sound. Near the point we passed a stretch of trees bent and curled low to the ground, similar to ones I’ve seen at Botanical Beach. My guess is years of winter wind pushing them one direction until they grew that way.
By the time we finished the loop the rain still hadn’t let up, so we drove into town for coffee, dried off some, and spent the rest of the morning in the shops and along the harbour.
If a rainy forecast has you second guessing a trip out here, don’t plan around it disappearing. Plan for the rain instead. The Lighthouse Loop is a solid way to spend a wet morning before the rest of your day.
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