Situated on the west coast of Vancouver Island, on the shore of the incredible beautiful Juan de Fuca Strait, French Beach Park offers awesome hiking trails through the surrounding rainforest. You park almost on the beach, so it’s a great place for those with mobility issues to come and enjoy the ocean views with very little effort. All in all, this is a great beach park.
French Beach and Pebble Beach are fronted with a large grassy picnic area where one can relax and take in the views. There are fire pits along the edge of the park right at the beach area, these come with built-in benches that form a circle around the fires. These are great places for a marshmallow roast. At each fire, there are several picnic tables as well. The beach park also has a play park for the kids and lots of space to toss balls or a Frisbee.
In addition to the beautiful views of the mountains and West Coast seascapes, you can catch views of the gray whales. The Gray whales travel past this park in the spring as they migrate to their northern feeding grounds and return again in the fall. Pods of killer whales and white-sided dolphins can also be seen offshore, as well as otters, seals, and sea lions. Mink, Eagles, osprey, and other sea and shorebirds can be seen here.
French Beach offers year-round vehicle-accessible camping in a beautiful natural setting, just a short walk to the beach. Facilities include a picnic and day-use area, a sani station, pit toilets, and freshwater. There are more camping and hiking opportunities at the nearby Juan de Fuca Provincial Park.