Eden Falls / Infinity Pools, Gordan River Valley (Port Renfrew)

Directions: If you have a 4×4 vehicle most of the time spent getting to the falls will be in your vehicle. If your vehicle has low clearance or isn’t built to drive the poor conditions of the road, you will definitely have to do some more hiking . Rocks are sharp, traction is poor and pot holes are deep. Your everyday street vehicle is not recommended.

First find you and hopefully an off-road capable vehicle to the west coast town of Port Renfrew. If coming from the south drive up Deering Road through the scenic marshlands turning right after crossing the long and lean Deering Bridge. On the other hand if coming from the north, travelling an island gem in its self the “Pacific Marine Circle Route”, this point is about 51km or almost an hour away from Mesachie Lake.

Keep driving up this road, not straying down any side roads, until you reach Gordan River Main. You will know you are on the right track if you soon come to a bridge spanning the Gordan River. This bridge is a little under 10 minutes or 5.2 kilometers from the Deering Bridge. From here the road gets cumulatively worse. Using your built in km ticker set it to 0. The Infinity pools are located on Edinburgh Main. At 1.8 kilometers m is Avatar Grove, an old growth forest with quite a few gnarly cedars. Avatar grove is home to Canada’s gnarliest tree, at 6.2 kilometers turn right onto the wide intersection onto Edinburgh Main.

This last 2 kilometer stint up Edinburgh Main is the worst of it, soon you will find your self at the base of a hill always filled with deep ruts and large loose rocks. If you’ve made it here in the mini-van or hatchback it may be wise to get out and walk at this point to avoid damage, the falls are not far from here. If your in a off-road vehicle, four high will suffice, bounce and wobble your way up the hill. Upon the first time leaving this area I offered a tired looking family a lift back to there SUV before “The Hill”. One of the men brought to my attention a massive Douglas Fir surrounded by clear cut. He told me the tree is fairly famous and has become known as “Lonely Doug”. Drive about half a kilometer past the gnarly hill and arrive at a short bridge crossing over the infinity pools. Drive a bit further, 50 meters away is a pull out, park here.

Trail: This trailer is short and fairly easy, but requires quite a bit of mobility. Walk back down to the falls, ignoring the granite staircase into heaven ahead. On this side of the bridge there is a small over grown trail that could be confused as just another animal trail. . It is well over grown with rotten trees and exposed roots becoming part of the trail.

At the time we had hiked it, during early summer, the entire trail had been consumed by the bush for at most the first half. After the bush cleared over a horizontal tree and directly above the first pool is a side trail which can easily be missed. It leads to a view of the second falls and pool too much of a challenge to explore. Keep hiking upwards and the trail leads you to the final pool, here is a nice grotto to climb down into, flip out that ultralight backpack seat, soak your feet in the water and read a book. Even on a hot summer day, although being shallow the water is cool.

Eden Grove: Head past your vehicle, through the arch and down the stairs. For some one who lives and breathes the forest you may mistaken your self for actually being in the garden of Eden. Follow a crisp wood path of cedar down through an old-growth valley habitat. The trees are tall, round and sturdy, the scene is picturesque. A glimpse into the past, the feeling is truly magical and strong, I feel as though it is indescribable by words or pictures.

Through out this valley, situated in unceded Pacheedaht territory once lush with old growth, there are now few pockets remaining of the endangered ecosystem remaining. If you enjoyed the hike please explore more and when back at home explore the ways you can help with the conservation effort as well. Once places as this are lost they are lost for ever, we don’t want to be the last generation to witness this accomplishment of nature.

Lonely Doug: Turns out Lonely Doug is the second largest Douglas Fir in all of Canada. He wasn’t just missed by the clear cut he was purposefully saved by a man flagging the forest to be leveled. He took a liking to the tree and probably would never fully understand the consequences of having such a big tree all alone like that. The man unfortunately died just a few years following.

The tallest Douglas Fir in Canada is only 20 klicks way in the San Juan River Valley. The fact these two trees are so close together really sparks an image of Vancouver Islands past, a magnificent place last seen by the ones who made it disappear, probably never to be seen again.