Nitinat Lake is a fjord-lake that is long, narrow, and strongly salt-stratified. It is connected to the ocean by a 3 km (1.8 miles) long natural shallow channel, limiting the exchange between the 203 m (666 ft.) deep lake and the Pacific Ocean. Including the sill in the total length, the length to width ratio is approximately 19:1, close to the 20:1 average for transverse fjord in British Columbia.
Nitinat is unique, for saying the least. It's beyond your expectations. It is its own isolated, kiteboarding heaven, where kite hipsters, kite pros, kite schools, windsurfers, the local people, and tourists accompany in organic harmony.
Nitinat Lake is large and strongly salt-stratified, located between Bamfield and Port Renfrew on the southwest of Vancouver Island. The southern point of the lake ends in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Nitinat Lake has been classified as a saltwater [tidal] loch or inlet. Nitinat seawater flows over a shallow sill twice daily into the twenty-three-kilometre lagoon. The mean breadth of Nitinat Lake is slightly more than a kilometre (0.6 miles) wide and 200 meters (656 ft) deep at the midway.
Get away from daily routines and have an excellent time with your family in a houseboat as you cruise the cool and clean water of Nitinat Lake, just southwestern Vancouver Island. Get rocked to sleep at night and wake up to the sound of waves gently lapping against the side of your vessel. Explore freshwater coves, inlets, and more to have the time of your life, or focus on relaxation.
The excellent news for cave exploring enthusiasts is that near the north end of Nitinat Lake, you can find Nitinat Caves. You can explore the beauty of the underground world, also known as Looper Creek Canyon.
From Victoria:
Getting to Nitinat Lake from Victoria is via Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1 N. This route is 171 km (106.2 miles) and takes about 2 hours and 49 minutes.
Take Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1 N, Cowichan Valley Hwy/BC-18 W and Youbou Rd to N Shore Rd in Cowichan Valley I for 125 km (77.6 miles). Continue on N Shore Rd to your destination in Cowichan Valley F. After 45.6 km (28.3 miles), you will reach Nitinat Lake.
From Nanaimo:
The fastest route to get to Nitinat Lake from Nanaimo is via Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1 S. It is 152 km (94.4 miles) and takes about 2 hours and 24 minutes.
Take Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1 S, Cowichan Valley Hwy/BC-18 W and Youbou Rd to N Shore Rd in Cowichan Valley I for 106 km (65.8 miles). Continue on N Shore Rd to your destination in Cowichan Valley F. After 45.6 km (28.3), you will reach Nitinat Lake.
There is no designated hiking trail to get to Nitinat Lake. Nitinat River Provincial Park at the northeast of Nitinat Lake has opportunities for wilderness hiking and camping in the forest of Douglas fir and Western hemlock.
The name of Nitinat Lake drives from the tribe of Nitinaht (Ditidaht). They were controlling over a vast area from the Jordan River to Pachena Point that Nitinat Lake was included. According to an ethnologist, the Nitinaht people held five bands. In the mid-twentieth century, the Carmanah Band near Carmanah Point and the Clo-oose Band on the Cheewhat River were joined into the Nitinaht tribe by the government order. In the 1890s, for the Nitinaht, the people of Carmanah Point and the Cheewhat River were set aside.
From ancient times, the Nitinaht tribe knows as warriors, fishers, and whalers. They also were using canoes daily.
In the late eighteenth, when European people came to the West Coast for the first time, the Nitinaht people seized several fishing stations on Nitinat Lake and the river. Stations were placed on Cowichan Lake and at "Quitz' of the Cowichan River. At this time, their principal village was at Whyac, an Indian word signifying "a level place above the rocks" or "lookout point." Whyac was a fortified encampment of a cliff viewing the dangerous passage for entering Nitinat Lake.
Same as other West Coast tribes in aboriginal times, during the year, the Nitinahts moved from encampment to encampment, following the hunting and fishing seasons. Whales, salmon, and halibut were among the aquatic food on which these people depended.
Taking a sauna on the beach, which is built by locals every year, is fascinating. After the sauna, take a swim in the lake and check out the lake's phosphorescence; they make your body glow.
Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park was created to protect the ancient and massive trees of old-growth forests in this region. It is where some of the most towering spruce trees exist, including the Carmanah Giant at 95 meters (311.5 ft).
In the case you find the local fishermen in the village, you can get some Dungeness crab and salmon.
Nitinat Windfest in mid-August is likely BC's biggest and best kite and windsurfs extravaganza, party, and competition that lasts all weekend.
On the beach, participate in the local jam nights by the nightly bonfire.
One of the most spectacular and remote kayaking and canoeing routes on Vancouver Island is the Nitinat Triangle. It is located west of Nitinat Lake in Pacific Rim National Park. It takes 38 km (23.6 miles) and four to five days to complete, with only 18 km (11 miles) on the water.
Your fishing experience will be magnificent on the Nitinat River and Nitinat Lake.
There are two swimming holes at the Nitinat River. One of them is Red Rock, which is about 6 km (3.7 miles) from Nitinat Lake. The other water hole is The Bridge. Both of them are close to a fish hatchery, the Nitinat River Hatchery. Take a tour through the hatchery.