Qualla: Schoen Lake Provincial Park

Schoen Lake Provincial Park: Introduction

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Isochrone, CC BY-SA 4.0. Columbian black-tailed deer need at least 65 percent canopy cover in old-growth forest to survive a Vancouver Island winter. That single fact -- a deer's requirement for overhead shelter from snow and cold -- helps explain why Schoen Lake Provincial Park matters. Established in 1977 on 8,775 hectares of northeastern Vancouver Island, the park protects one of the last substantial tracts of intact old-growth in a region where logging has claimed most of the surrounding landscape. The deer that depend on these ancient stands of western hemlock, Douglas fir, and western red cedar have no fallback position. This forest is the one they have.

Image: Isochrone | CC BY-SA 4.0

Schoen Lake Provincial Park: Vancouver Island's Tallest Waterfall

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carport, CC BY-SA 3.0. Kiwi Falls cascades 475 meters down from the mountains southeast of Schoen Lake, making it the tallest waterfall on Vancouver Island and the eighth tallest confirmed waterfall in British Columbia. It is a horsetail fall -- the water maintains contact with the rock face as it desc...

Image: Carport | CC BY-SA 3.0

Schoen Lake Provincial Park: The Elk, the Deer, and the Wolf

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carport, CC BY-SA 3.0. The park sits within the Nimpkish Valley watershed, and its ecology reflects the interactions of large animals in dense coastal forest. The Adams River herd of Roosevelt elk uses the valley bottoms, wetland areas, and avalanche chutes for summer range, and during the fall rut, bu...

Image: Carport | CC BY-SA 3.0

Schoen Lake Provincial Park: Old Growth, Still Standing

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carport, CC BY-SA 3.0. The forests surrounding Schoen Lake are layered like a geological cross-section of coastal ecology. Near the lake's edge, western hemlock, Douglas fir, red alder, and western red cedar form a dense, multi-story canopy that blocks much of the sky. Higher up, mountain hemlock, Paci...

Image: Carport | CC BY-SA 3.0

Schoen Lake Provincial Park: Nine Campsites and a Rough Road

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carport, CC BY-SA 3.0. Schoen Lake Provincial Park does not make access easy. The road from Highway 19 is narrow, rough, unpaved, and not maintained by the province. Motor homes and trailers use it anyway. At the end of the road, the west end of Schoen Lake offers a nine-site campground with a natural ...

Image: Carport | CC BY-SA 3.0