The Toquaht Nation welcomes you to their traditional territories, where they have lived for thousands of years.

As part of the Nuu-chah-nulth first nations, the Toquaht people lived within the protected waters of Toquaht Bay (early cartographeres mistakenly spelled the name as Toquart Bay) during the winters and harvested the bounty of seafood provided by the ocean.

Over the last century, fishing and forest harvesting has provided much of the economic base for both native and non-native residents of the west coast of Vancouver Island. In the 1960's an iron ore mine, located about 4 kilometres from Kennedy Lake on the Toquart Bay road, was put into production by Noranda Mines. The ore was hauled to a crushing and concentrator plant located Toquart Bay, with the processed ore being loaded onto large ships and sent to the smelters.

The fine sand left over from the crushing processed was deposited at the waters edge and slowly filled in the area from the main island and a small one known as “ Tree Island”. Over the years this sand was slowly pushed out until the entire area was filled and formed a beautiful sandy beach and camping area.

The Ministry of Forests began developing a small recreation and camping area at the site after the crushing operation was closed. Over the years, the area kept expanding and became a very popular camping and fishing location for both locals and visitors, with an abundance of clams, oysters, prawns, crabs, salmon and rockfish. In 2001/02 the Forest Ministry funded a complete development of the site, adding tables, fire rings, bathrooms, and a landscaped lawn area.

It’s close proximity to the Broken Island Group, an important part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, has created a tourism mecca at Toquart Bay. Kayak and canoe enthusiasts travel from all over the world to visit these islands, and most of them use Toquart Bay as their staging location. Excellent fishing, whale watching and wildlife viewing also attract huge numbers of visitors each year to the area.

From fishing to forestry, mining and tourism, the Toquart Bay area has provided both economic opportunity and fantastic life experiences for everyone that discovers the wonders of the West Coast.

Bookings: 250-726-8349