After our hike to the Hole in the Wall, we drove another 13.9 kms. (a 20-min. drive), heading east along BC Highway 4, to get to the Cathedral Grove.  Located within the 301-hectare (740-acre) MacMillan Provincial Park (it officially became a Class A provincial park in 1947), it is one of the most accessible and incredible old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. Each year, this iconic destination draws more than half a million visitors. We parked our car at a small roadside parking areas, on both sides of Highway 4.  It being summer, we were lucky as we arrived late in the day.  It usually fills up quickly, especially during weekends.

Check out “Hole in the Wall”

For thousands of years, the Hupacasath First Nation and other local indigenous groups have cared for the land, using the giant trees for shelter and tools. Since the 1920s, Cathedral Grove has been a famous stop along the Alberni Road. Viscount Willingdon, the Governor General of Canada, named the site “Cathedral Grove” in the 1920s because the tall trees looked like a grand church.

In 1944, Harvey Reginald MacMillan, a timber baron who wanted to log this whole area, donated 136 hectares of his company’s land to the public after concerned locals and first nations protested fiercely, making it one of the first successful conservation victories in British Columbia. It’s ironic though that the park was named after the man who wanted to cut it all down. Unfortunately, although this grove was protected, most of the surrounding watershed was chopped down and cleared.

An easy stop on the drive to Port Alberni, the Pacific Rim, or central island lakes, here a short network of combined flat loop trails, with a combined walking distance of roughly 2.2 kms., takes you beneath towering Douglas fir and Western Red Cedar trees, with trunks so wide you can barely wrap your arms around them. Boardwalks, wide gravel paths, and frequent viewpoints makes you experience the forest at a relaxed pace.

The Douglas fir are the granddaddy of this forest.  They were huge and massive, with a long branch-free trunk 9 m. in circumference, and a canopy up high.  Their dark brown bark looks much thicker, with irregular, thick ridges. Western Red Cedar trees have trunks that flare out at the base, with reddish-brown bark with long ridges. Their leaves, spread out on the twigs in flat, fan-like swooshes, have a lovely smell. Western Hemlock, the most common tree on the British Columbia coastline, doesn’t mind shade, growing up beneath the other giants. Its drooping branches have a feathery, flat, glossy and soft foliage that, when the sunshine streams through it, looks fabulous.

Cathedral Grove has two main trail areas on either side of Highway 4, making it easy to explore, in a single short visit, both the north and south sections. The north section has a boardwalk-style loop that works well for most wheelchairs and strollers while the south section has upgraded but slightly more uneven but wide gravel paths. To help manage traffic, both trails are one-way loops.

We first entered the Cathedral Grove’s south section, a 1-km. long dirt path which was muddy due to rain that day. At the entrance was a plaque honoring Scottish botanist David Douglas, after whom the Douglas fir was named. Good thing we wore proper footwear. Upon stepping into the trail, we felt like entering another world.

We were captivated by its towering old-growth trees, deep green moss, and quiet forest floor. There’s no boardwalk here, but the route is still flat and easy to follow. To protect the forest floor and root systems, we stayed on the designated trails. Smoking is also strictly prohibited. We encountered exposed roots and fallen trees, particularly through the “Living Forest” section. 

This trail is a bit more hands-on, with opportunities to step over logs, get close to the trees and, along the way, snap some great photos. Most of the forest trees (giant Douglas fir, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar and a few maple trees) we saw today are younger growth that regenerated after a major forest fire that swept through this part of Vancouver Island around 300 to 400 years ago.  However, some of the oldest giants here are well over 800 years old. Following the “Big Tree Trail,” we made our way up to the superstar of the hike – the largest Douglas fir around. At 72 m. (236 ft.) tall, it stands higher than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

From the South Trailhead, we carefully crossed the highway to enter the North Old Growth Trail.  This trail features groves of ancient Western Red Cedar (British Columbia’s official tree) near Cameron Lake.  

To protect the tree roots, a beautifully maintained boardwalk trail winds around most of the trails, extending approximately 1.2 kms. This was fine for our footwear as we didn’t get muddy or soggy. Plus it is wheelchair accessible.  Along the trail, there were scenic spots along the Cameron River.

Along this trail, we encountered a lot of enormous fallen trees, a legacy of severe windstorms (when massive trees were knocked down) in 1990, 1997, 2018 and 2024, creating open spaces and nurse logs that feed new plant growth, and a striking visual and ecological narrative. These fallen trees now play an important role in the forest’s renewal as atop the old, nutrient-rich logs, newer trees now thrive, creating an awe-inspiring cycle of renewal of the ecosystem. Some trees grew into each other as we saw the differences in the bark.

It took us more than an hour to walk both sides of this well-loved roadside attraction as we stopped for photos and read interpretive signs.

Cathedral Grove: MacMillan Provincial Park BC-4, Port Alberni, British Columbia V0R 1G0. Open year-round, with lush moss and ferns in the rainy months. Avoid visiting during strong winds, as large branches and trees can fall in old-growth forests. Admission is free.  There are pit toilets on both sides of the highway. Dogs are welcome but must remain leashed. On windy days, consider skipping your visit or waiting for calmer conditions, as large branches and trees can fall in old-growth forests.

How to Get There: The park, conveniently located 16 kms. east of Port Alberni and 30 kms. west of Parksville, along Highway 4, is easily reached by car or via organized tour groups.  Public transportation is not available.

From Jasper, we headed for Miette Hot Springs, a 58.8-km. (one-hour) drive away. On the eastbound side of the Yellowhead Highway 16, we stopped by a small pullout/parking area where a narrow, short walking path, running roughly 200 to 250 m. along the roadside, led us to the shoreline of a cold sulfur spring and pool area, a road trip highlight around Jasper National Park.  Its crystal-clear water had a striking, vibrant green-turquoise hue caused by mineral and sulfur content from the local springs. There are no picnic benches or formal facilities here; it is strictly a quick roadside scenic stop.

Check out “Miette Hot Spring”

Located right by a limestone cliff, 1,021 m. above sea level, it features unique cold sulfur water and microbial white filaments. The cold water, roughly 7° to 9° C, actually originates from deep underground (2+ kms. down) where rocks heat it past 100° C, under heavy pressure, before it migrated upward along fault lines and mixed near the surface.

The microbial white filamentous bacterial mats, seen thriving in the sulfur-laden run-off, are bacteria such as Baggiatoa and Thiothrix which use the hydrogen sulfide in their life cycles, releasing pure yellow sulfur as waste products.  The yellow is masked by the white color of the bacteria. Ancient micro-fossils (stromatoporoids/saltwater sponges) are embedded in  the nearby rock cuts.

We immediately noticed a distinct rotten egg smell from trace amounts, bubbling up from the water, of hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas that the human nose is very sensitive to.  Its concentration is very low and, therefore, not dangerous except for persons especially sensitive to the gas.  Its presence tells us that this water was hot enough and under enough pressure to acquire sulphate from the sulfur-bearing minerals in the rock here.

Bighorn sheep are frequently seen here, especially during morning hours, as they get sulfur (an essential element for their hair which they shed, in large quantities, every year) from the mineral-rich spring water and salt content. Agile climbers, the cliffs above also provide the sheep with an escape terrain from predators. As we arrived in the late afternoon, we didn’t any bighorn sheep during our visit.

Cold Sulfur Springs: Highway 16, Jasper, Alberta.  Coordinates: N53° 02.711’, W118° 04.950’

How to Get There: The paved pull-off is located 22.6 kms. east of Jasper, not far past the bridge over the Athabasca River. The stop is 56.1 kms. west of Hinton, 22.9 kms. past the eastern park gate.

After our short stopover to view Panther Falls, it was a short drive to the Athabasca Glacier, the most visited glacier in North America and one of the most accessible (due to its close proximity to the road) glaciers in the world.  Grace, Jandy and I were supposed to take a ride onto the glacier in a massive, all-terrain Ice Explorer vehicle (tours depart from the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre, located directly across the highway from the glacier) but we decided to just join Cheska, Bryan and Kyle who were exploring the glacier on foot.

One of the largest non-polar ice fields in the world and a part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site, this ice river is located in Jasper National Park within the Canadian Rockies and sits below monumental summits including 3,491-m. (11,453-ft.) high^[Mt. Athabasca, the 3,450-m. (11,320-ft.) high Mt. Andromeda and 376-m. (1,234-ft.) high Snow Dome. Lying on a wide, elevated plateau, it is one of the six principal ‘toes’ of the Columbia Icefield, a surviving remnant of the thick ice mass that once mantled most of Western Canada’s mountains, and is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies.

This ancient, receding “river of ice” is a striking, must-see stop in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier, covering an area of 6 sq. kms. (2.3 sq. mi.) stretches about 6 kms. (3.7 mi.) in length and was measured to be between 90–300 m. (300–980 ft.) thick. 

Because of a warming climate, the shrinking glacier has experienced significant glacier recession, increased temperatures and, in recent years, a notable lack of snowfall and snowpack.  It currently loses depth at a rate of about 5 m. (16 ft.) per year and has receded or melted more than 1.5 kms. (0.93 mi.) and lost over half of its volume in the past 125 years. 

What really struck me was the tombstone-like “1992” marker that indicates the edge of the ice in 1992. The distance from that point up the edge of the glacier was now more than 150 meters.  A moonscape of rocky moraines (piles of rock and sediment carried by the glacier) and glacier-eroded depressions, filled with meltwater, were left in its place.  There was also evidence of glacial striation (scratches cut into the bedrock by the moving glacier).

Firsthand evidence of the rapid retreat of this glacier has been witnessed, over the past century, by millions of visitors. A variety of researchers have documented this phenomenon, a direct indicator of the adverse effects of climate change on the glacier’s health and stability and, in 2023, the Athabasca Glacier saw more glacier ice melt than in any of the past 10 years. To ensure its ecological integrity for present and future generations, Parks Canada continues to work towards fostering public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the Athabasca Glacier.

Hardy alpine plants and early colonizing species have slowly establish themselves in the rocky, wind-swept forefield left behind by the receding Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park. They include Fireweed (Chamerion augustifolium), Alpine stitchwort (Cherleria obstrusiloba), Reddish stitchwort (Sabulina rubella) and Mountain Avens (Dryas species), River Beauty (Chamaenerion latifolium) and White arctic whitlow-grass (Draba fladnizensis).

Ideally placed to catch much of the moisture that Pacific winds carry across the British Columbia interior, nearly three-quarters of the park’s highest peaks are located close to the icefield. Spilling from the Columbia Icefield over three giant bedrock steps, the Athabasca Glacier flows down the valley.

However, though easily accessible, our travel onto the glacier was not easy and we were not properly equipped with the right clothing as we just wore light jackets and woolen bonnets and gloves. Even during our visit on the second week of July, in the middle of summer, temperatures at the glacier that day were quite chilly, with strong, cold katabatic winds (cold, dense airflows that rush downhill from the steep face of the glacier) coming off the ice.

When we left the parking area, it was a mild 15°C to 20°C (59°F–68°F).  However, it dropped sharply down to around 4°C to 10°C (40°F–50°F) or near freezing, at the edge of the ice surface, and it felt much colder due to the strong winds. Our visit, though, provided a first of Jandy – his first experience with snow.

Walking onto the glacier independently is highly discouraged as hidden crevasses  are incredibly dangerous, and wandering onto the ice without proper gear or a guide has proven fatal in the past, leading to the deaths of unprepared tourists.  For your safety do not cross the barriers.

Along the way, we passed by patches of “dirty snow” and dark lines which are a completely natural and highly studied phenomenon, their dark, soot-like appearance caused by cryoconite, rock dust and wildfire ash. We also encountered a Golden-mantled ground squirrel.

We also encountered (and climbed up) a number of glacier erratics, large boulders moved by glacial ice and left in an area with a completely different underlying bedrock type.

The Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre is also used as a lodge and for ticket sales for sightseeing on the glacier. It has two restaurants and a Starbucks. Standard buses here transport tourists from the center to the glacier edge, where they board specially designed snow coaches for transport over the steep grades, snow and ice part way up the glacier. The center is closed during the winter (mid-October to mid-April).

The Columbia Icefield Skywalk, located nearby, is a 918-ft. high, suspended glass-floored platform offering incredible, jaw-dropping views of the glacier-formed valleys. If you want to take an Ice Explorer tour or a guided hike, book your passes in advance through the Columbia Icefield Adventure platform to secure your preferred time slot. 

Athabasca Glacier: Highway 93 North – Icefield Parkway, Improvement District No. 12, Jasper, Alberta, T1L 1J3.  Tel: (888) 740-0307. Toll Free: (866) 506-0515. Coordinates: 52°11′55″N 117°14′37″W.

How to Get There: The glacier is directly off the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93N) and is 105 kms. (about an hour drive) south of Jasper and 128 kms. (a 2-hour drive) north of Banff. The leading edge of the glacier is within easy walking distance.