Find what you NEED to KNOW quickly. Often you can jump directly to the answer to your question using many different navigation options. Use the back button on your browser if you want to return to where you were.

Tip - resize your browser window to show 8 - 10 worlds / line for easiest reading.

Tip - links to other websites open new windows in your browser. Close those windows you no longer want.

If you might hike the Nootka:

• Browse the FAQs first
• Browse Safety
• Browse the rest of the site

If you plan to hike the Nootka:

• Browse the FAQs first
• Browse Safety
• Check our recommended Routes
• Decide if you want to fly in
• Check Details for specific information
• Check the Archive

If you have a specific question:

• Scan the FAQs
• Check Details
• If that doesn’t work, e-mail us with your question

If you’ve already hiked the Nootka:

• E-mail us your comments or suggestions.
• Or join us. Become a contributor by sending notes and / or photos from your hike.

If you have an addition or correction for the web site please e-mail. We’d appreciate any advice you have to improve this site.

If you need to know EVERYTHING about the Nootka:

This web site is written sequentially like a book. Given enough time, you could read the whole thing starting on the home page. Keep clicking on next page when you reach the bottom of each.
Top of Page

How up-to-date is this information?

Each page has the most recent date of revision posted at the bottom.

Conditions change on the Nootka on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis. Expect the unexpected. Be ready for anything.

That said, the main advantage of the Internet is currency. This site is as up-to-date as the last hiker who e-mailed to advise us of new issues on the Trail.

We invite you to become a contributor. If you’ve got new information please e-mail.
Top of Page

Who is i-NEEDtoknow.com?

We are hiking enthusiasts using the Internet to provide up-to-date advice. Though based in Canada, we hope to expand this site to (one day) include many of the great multi-day treks of the world.

This Nootka web site is a resource for those aspiring to hike the Nootka, and a forum and archive for those who have already conquered the Savage Coast. Meet our contributors.

The nearest city with a range of supplies & services is Campbell River, BC though Gold River (the jumping off point for the Trail, 100 km closer to Nootka Island) has basics.

Map pinpointing Gold River by Air Nootka.

The recommended start is the northern trailhead, Louie Bay Lagoon, near Ferrer Point. The southern trailhead is located at Yuquot (Friendly Cove) where the ferry Uchuck III picks up passengers & returns them to Gold River.

More maps.

The Nootka is similar to the West Coast Trail & the Juan de Fuca Trail but it is not a Park. The Nootka is completely unprotected. It is not pristine. Nootka has been extensively logged though you aren’t often aware of this as you hike the coast. To see the war-zone devastation of a clear cut close walk inland 5 minutes from the campsite at Beano Creek.
Top of Page | FAQs

Why is the Nootka Trail not better known?

People have been hiking the Nootka since at least 1980, but no guidebook or web site (until this one in 2001) had been published. Summer 2002 we heard the first noises about the Nooka being too crowded.

Very few had heard of Nootka Island until the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC produced a quality brochure; Walking the Wild West Coast. The Nootka Trail in 2000. The purpose of the brochure was:

• to make hikers aware of the adventure
• to focus attention on the threat of proposed development on this unprotected area

The secret is out now. There is even a well-known guidebook.
Top of Page | FAQs

How do I get there?

To get to the Nootka you travel to the end of the world.

The jumping off point for most hikers is Gold River, a pretty town at the end of the pavement.

Nootka Island is remote. You can only get there by passenger ferry, boat or kayak — or plane arranged in Gold River or Campbell River.

Transportation details.
Top of Page | FAQs