Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, is home to some of the world’s largest spruce trees. The impressive Heaven Tree is one of the broadest Sitka spruce trees in the Carmanah Valleym, with a diameter of 3.5 metres and a height of approximately 77 metres.
The lower Carmanah valley was declared a provincial park in 1990, as a result of the discovery of the Carmanah Giant Sitka Spruce by conservationist Randy Stoltmann in 1988. At 95 metres, the Carmanah Giant is thought to be the tallest Sitka spruce in the world, although it is less than 400 years old! There are much older, gnarled cedars estimated to be well over 1,000 years old clinging to the side hills. The Walbran and upper Carmanah Valleys were added to the park in 1995, thereby completing the protection of the Carmanah Creek watershed and the southern portion of the Walbran Creek watershed.
Heaven Tree now has a viewing platform to provide easy access to the tree and help to protect the vegetation surrounding the base of this natural wonder.
Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park is located 12 miles (20 km) northwest of Port Renfrew, on the southwestern coast of Vancouver Island. The Carmanah Valley is accessed from various directions via the Caycuse River Bridge. The park is reached by vehicle from Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan, and also from West Coast Highway 14 via Port Renfrew. The hike to Heaven Tree is approximately one kilometre in length, an average one-way hiking time of 30 minutes downstream from the Junction.
