Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a Canadian national park reserve in British Columbia made up of parks of three separate regions: Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. The entire park encompasses of land and ocean. The park is characterized by rugged coasts and lush temperate rainforests. The park is open from mid-March until mid-October. The park was inaugurated in 1971 by Princess Anne of England. At the opening ceremony, a driftwood abstract sculpture by local artist Godfrey Stephens was presented to her by Jean Chretien, the Parks Minister for Canada.GeographyThe park encompasses a thin strip of land located on the south-west coast Irel Island. To the east of the park lies the Vancouver Island Ranges of the Insular Mountains and to the west is the Pacific Ocean.During fall and winter, the area is continually subjected to moist air masses from the Pacific Ocean. The presence of the mountain ranges causes the air masses to rise and deposit large quantities of precipitation, a phenomenon known as orographic precipitation. The area averages over 3,000 mm (118 in) of precipitation per year, a key factor in producing temperate rainforests. During the drier summer months the area is sometimes covered in fog. Average temperatures range