Ucluelet Life
Ucluelet means "safe harbour" or "safe landing place" in the traditional Nuu-chah-nulth language of those who first inhabited its shores.
Nowadays, visitors and locals alike enjoy "Life on the Edge" on the Ucluth peninsula. With Ucluelet harbour to east, Barkley Sound to the southeast, the open Pacific to the west, and mountains to the north, Ucluelet is truly surrounded by breathtaking beauty.
A quaint village still by today's standards, its roughly 1,600 residents welcome visitors to share in the experience of life on the raw, rugged coast.
Ucluelet is pronounced just as it sounds, U-clue-let, but locals often just refer to it as "Ukee."
European explorers first visited this area in the 1770s, but settlement did not actually start until the late 1880s when a sawmill and general store were built. Gold was discovered at nearby Florencia Bay (also called Wreck Bay) around the turn of the 20th century, and the mining of various minerals continued to be vital to the local economy until the early 1960s. Fishing and logging were also prominent industry after World War I, and there is still some fishing and fish processing that goes on today.
A road connecting the West Coast to Port Alberni opened in 1959, but it didn't get paved until the mid 1970s.
Tourism now figures most prominently in the economy of this coastal village, and it's no wonder with the activities and attractions that await visitors. Sports fishing, whale watching, beach combing, kayaking in the nearby Broken Group Islands, and surfing are just some of the possibilities. The Wild Pacific Trail is one of Ucluelet's greatest gems. A hiking trail that is planned to connect with Willowbrae Trail in Pacific Rim National Park, this treasure allows visitors to view the majesty of the Pacific Ocean from an up close vantage point.
Isn't it time you experienced "Life on the Edge"?
