08/20/2026
Cape Beale Lighthouse is located at the southern entrance to Barkley Sound and is the oldest operational staffed lighthouse in BC. Established in 1874 to guide mariners through the Graveyard of the Pacific. It’s an important beacon for boats traveling to Bamfield and Port Alberni.
The station is accessible by helicopter or boat. Or a 10km trek through a rugged rainforest trail. I’ve always been curious about this tail and had an opportunity in July to visit a friend that was working there, so I hiked in.
The trail has a really interesting story about a lightkeeper’s wife, Minnie Paterson. In December 1906, this brave and heroic woman made the trek through the rainforest trail during a fierce storm to alert the Canadian government ship, the Quadra that the 168-foot American ship, the Coloma, was is distress- it’s rigging was torn away and the lifeboats were smashed. The crew was in imminent danger as they clung to the stump of the mizzenmast, drifting towards the reefs.
The Quadra was able to save all the ship’s crew and Minnie became a legendary part of maritime history.
The trail is not easy even on a nice July day-there was a lot of scrambling over fallen trees and navigating super muddy and wet terrain. I can only imagine what it would have been like for Minnie with 80 knot winds, rain and hail.