Gold River is in Central Vancouver Island, close to its geographic centre. The village has a picturesque setting, and has developed tourism and sport fishing as its main economic supports, as a base for such activities as the Nootka Island trek, hiking the Elk Lake trail, climbing Golden Hinde mountain (Vancouver Island's highest peak), Crest Creek climbing crags, and the Great Walk.
Gold River developed in 1967 as a prototypical logging and pulp and paper industry community, and quickly sprang into prosperity and established excellent community facilities. Shifting world markets brought the mill closure in 1998, forcing many of Gold River's inhabitants to relocate.
Gold River also serves as a historic point, being the closest village to the famous Friendly Cove, where British explorer Captain James Cook first set ashore.
In 2001, a two-year-old male orca, later named Luna, was seen in Nootka Sound alone as far inland as the marina at Gold River. Presumed to be an orphan separated from his pod, Luna became a local and international celebrity by his playful and curious behavior with lumber tugboats and recreational watercraft on Nootka Sound, and with people, including young children, on the Gold River dock. The popularity of Luna made Gold River an international attraction from early 2002 through March 2006, when Luna was killed in an accidental collision with a tugboat propeller.
13 km south is Muchalat Inlet, which extends 55 km west into Nootka Sound. The inlet's maximum depth is 380 m, and it serves as a staging area for log exports, fishing, a ferry, and seasonal tourism and sporting activities. From here 📍 departs the ship MV Uchuck III for the round trip to Friendly Cove 📍.
It's also possible.
Gold River is the terminus of Hwy 28.
It's most practical. Most visitors arrive by car anyway.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division