The Dakota 576 crash site trail near Port Hardy is a short but demanding hike that leads to a preserved WWII plane wreck and memorial. In about two hours, you climb through second-growth forest, tackle rope-assisted slopes, and finish at an open hillside where the fuselage of a Douglas C-47 still rests in the trees.
It is a powerful mix of history, views, and effort. The wreckage is a protected Provincial Heritage Site and a memorial to two airmen who lost their lives here in 1944, so it feels more like visiting an outdoor museum in the forest than a typical summit hike.
What to expect on the Dakota 576 crash site hike
- Trail type: Roughly 4.5 km out and back from Bear Cove Park.
- Time needed: Around 2 hours of hiking time, plus extra if you linger at the crash site.
- Difficulty: Short but steep, with about 150 to 160 metres of elevation gain, muddy sections in wet weather, and rope-assisted slopes.
- Best for: Confident hikers who are steady on their feet and comfortable with steep, uneven terrain.
- Highlights: Lookout views over Port Hardy and Bear Cove, rope sections, the intact fuselage, a stainless steel memorial, and preserved RAF markings on the plane.
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This hike is a bit of adventure and a lot of tragedy leaving a scene that is both amazing and haunting simultaneously.
To start, park your car at Bear Cove Park and walk toward the ferry terminal. On the right side, just before the bend, you will notice a paved, non-marked, narrow road heading up the hill. The first 10 minutes start off paved, then turn to gravel. The hiking trail breaks off to the left just before the large storage bins with the “explosive” markings. The trail then heads back down towards a small creek bed.
After crossing the creek, the trail turns up toward the mountain and the hike becomes a bit of a push on the old legs. The trail continues up, where the trees part for a fantastic lookout point, offering views of the small town of Port Hardy across Bear Cove.
As you reach the hike’s highest point at 110 meters (360 feet), the trail starts to descend toward the crash site. A few steeper sections have ropes installed during the descent to make it easier–although it’s overly challenging in weather, but along portions of the trail, the ropes prove to be helpful when raining and during the climb back up.
It’s at the 2km point where the forest opens up, and you start seeing signs of the airplane.
What to Expect at the Crash Site
The first thing you see is a small yellow sign stating it is a protected Provincial Heritage Site, asking to respect those who perished in the crash. It also notes that it is illegal to damage, desecrate, or alter the site, or to remove any object or material, and that offenders face a high penalty.
Overall the site is humbling, the cockpit is missing and the fuselage is open, with a memorial placed at the front of the plane. Everything is in surprisingly good condition, having been exposed to the elements since 1944. The shell of the plane is all that’s left. There are no engines, cockpit, seats, or windows; one could presume that the rest had been salvaged by the military after the crash.
The actual site is quite large, as the area behind the plane has been cleared of trees with a temporary helicopter landing pad. It’s unclear when the trees were removed. Was it during the rescue in 1944 or during one of the dedication ceremonies, including in April 2004, marking the 60th anniversary of the Dakota 576, where family members and guests were flown in by helicopter?
The Dakota wreck in Port Hardy isn’t the only crash site located on Vancouver Island, but the only one with a tragic ending, with so much to see. The Tofino Plane crash has easier access and had a better outcome for the crew, the Canso Bomber crashed on take-off and happened less than one year after the Port Hardy crash.
This trail is on the north island, near where recent grizzly sightings have been reported, in addition to the black bears, cougars and wolves that live here year-round. Our Vancouver Island wildlife safety guide covers what that actually means for your hike.
The History of the Dakota 576 Crash Site in Port Hardy
Several crews from 32 RAF OTU were briefed on a cross-country navigation mission on April 19, 1944. Their task was to fly from Pat Bay, complete several legs and an approach at Port Hardy, and return to Pat Bay. Despite encountering squalls and strong winds, most of the crews successfully made it back to Pat Bay. However, the crew of Dakota 576 realized they did not have sufficient fuel, so they chose to land at Port Hardy.
The pilot, Officer JM Talbot, missed the initial approach due to bad weather and had to make a second attempt. However, while on the centerline and approximately five miles away from landing, he exhausted his fuel and had to make a crash landing in a patch of scrub trees.
Unfortunately, the nose of the aircraft hit hard and killed the pilot and the navigator, Pilot Officer TS Wardlow and Pilot Officer J.M. Talbot.
The wireless Air Gunner, Sgt TR Moss, survived and was found by a search party several hours later, dazed but not injured. The two deceased men were buried in Victoria.
Reference: 101 Squadron (North Island)
This knowledge of the tragedy made for a more sombre hike over that of another popular crash site in Tofino, where you learn that all the crew survived. The site serves as a memorial to the lost and is a protected Provincial Heritage Site.
The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum website has more information on the Douglas C-47 Dakota
A Personal Experience
Written by James from our Newsletter
The North Island is all adventure and pure wilderness heaven. From dedicated whale zones to beaches that rank in the world’s top 50, the whole area from Campbell River up has a fascinating array of adventure possibilities.
Today’s adventure story, however, comes from a place of tragedy, leaving a scene that is both amazing and haunting at the same time.
Taking Highway 19 as far north as just before the ferry terminal is the start of the hike to the fatal Dakota 576 crash site, where, unfortunately, two servicemen lost their lives in a routine training navigation mission.
As the story goes, during a storm, the pilots overshot the runway and had to circle back around in an attempt to land again, only to run dry of fuel and crash atop the mountain—fortunately, SGT. T.R. Moss survived the crash but P.O. J.M. Talbot and P.O. T.S. Wordlow both died on that fateful night in 1944.
This knowledge made the hike slightly more sombre in mood from that of another popular crash site in Tofino, where you learn that all the crew survived. The site serves as a memorial to the lost and is a protected provincial heritage Site.
The Climb
The hike to the crash is actually quite tough for a short 45 minutes. The trail is straight up for the first 10 minutes through a logging access road to a split, where it veers off to the left toward the smallest river ever. Don’t let All Trails fool you, as it did with me, as the stream looks like quite the river crossing on the map, but in reality, it’s nothing but a dried-up creek, which was disappointing but not a game changer.
The trail once again turns toward the mountain and the hike becomes a bit of a push on the old legs with a savage climb to the first of a few cool lookout points where you can see the small town of Port Hardy across the bay. Through the trees, the trail gets quite enclosed, and having read about the presence of a grizzly bear in the area, my heart rate was somewhat elevated through this portion. Again, being from England, I’m still only getting used to the idea of the smaller, less aggressive black bears on the South Island, so the thought of a huge, angry, hungry Grizzly did worry me.
The next challenge comes in the form of ropes… yes there is a small section where you have to repel down, bringing back old memories of the original Batman series (if you know, you know). Nearing the top of the climb, the plane starts to come into view, and the devastation is quite staggering as the area opens up.
Memorial to the fallen
The aircraft is still pretty intact albeit deformed with no real wings anymore. The cockpit is gone and one can only assume that the two fatalities from the crash were those who sat in the front seats, which is now the place where an impressive stainless steel memorial stands, giving a short overview of the site and the crew from the aircraft.
The majority of the plane can be explored, and if you’re brave enough, you can actually climb in, although I wouldn’t advise this, as some of the panels are in rough shape and probably ready to collapse. Searching around the site, you can find other parts scattered from the crash, including the door and the rear wings, that thankfully haven’t been stolen. Amazingly, the RAF logo on the side of the aircraft is so well preserved on both sides.
Although it’s not confirmed, it looks like the engines and cockpit are gone, leaving me to think that as part of the mission to the crash site, they would have taken anything salvageable. I guess with the world being at war, parts and spares would have been scarce, and if possible, the engines probably went into another aircraft for use in the remaining months before the Nazis were overthrown and the war was ended.
Heading back
Leaving the site, we were engrossed in conversations about how incredibly weird the world is and how, as humans, we don’t seem to ever learn from our mistakes. World War II should have been the war to end all wars, but sadly, we do find ourselves constantly seeing new conflicts start.
The hike itself down the mountain was just as the sun was starting its descent, making the views even more spectacular until we realized that the repel we did was now a climb with a heavy backpack full of camera equipment that I had barely used. I do need to start thinking about how much gear I will need when remote hiking!!!
Seeing the car at the parking lot by Bear Cove Park was a welcome sight and after all the remote hiking we had done it was five minutes into the journey back to the campsite that we saw a bear on the side of the road!!! Crazy end to a crazy day.
Port Hardy and the north island in general is a wild remote place full of adventure that I will be exploring more. This trip saw us travel to a few more crazy spots that we will be sharing with you soon.
Make sure you put Port Hardy onto your own bucket list and take in the remote wild north for yourself.
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