Out of everywhere we visited on Vancouver Island, Mystic Beach just might have been my favorite spot.
The trail down to the beach is a bit tricky (definitely more of an intermediate level), but so worth it. It’s only about 2km, but it took us through quite the forest with lots of roots and over boardwalks and even to a suspension bridge. It wasn’t always clear which way the trail was heading, but thankfully there were orange reflectors on different trees to make sure we didn’t leave the path. The bridge was one of my favorite spots and is just about halfway through the trail. Towards the end, there are a few dicey steps down some wooden stairs that have mostly worn away so I definitely was holding on to our youngest for that part! But then, we made it to the beach and it was so amazingly beautiful.
This beach wasn’t empty like Sandcut Beach, but it also wasn’t nearly as crowded as Sombrio. I think the more difficult trail definitely helps with that. There were just a few other small groups of people while we were there and as we headed left towards the waterfall, we timed it just right to have some time to ourselves there. Next to the waterfall are a few shallow beach caves covered in moss that our kids really enjoyed playing around.
We made sure to come as the tide was falling so we could also explore the giant sea cave on the right side of the beach. This cave was huge and led to a second entrance to the ocean.
I think we all could have spent most of the day here, but we had another spot we wanted to time with low tide. Sooner than we would have liked, we headed back up the wooden stairs, over the bridge, and back through the forest until we reached the parking lot.
I would love to come back here someday! Have you been? What did you love?
Daley Family Travels 