Getting there is a separate cost. The park is reached only by boat or float plane, and the companies listed as holding a park-use permit set their own fares. Boats staying overnight at the dock pay $2 per metre per night, taxes included, and that does not include the day-use fee.
Fieldy handles all communication and booking for you.
What it actually looks like
Photos from Nism̓aakqin Park's website
No photographs published on Nism̓aakqin Park’s site.
Our note
There is no road to this park. The only way in is a boat or a float plane, then 2 km of boardwalk with stairs in each direction, so for most daycare groups it is a day out that is out of reach without a chartered vessel and a long day. If you are planning it for an older group anyway, the water averages 50 degrees, the last stretch down to the pools is loose rock, and nobody is on duty to watch the water.
What the children do
The park is open to the public with a day-use fee of $3, which the site's hot springs brochure states is per person, per day. A 2 km boardwalk trail leads through old growth rainforest from the dock in Hot Springs Cove to six natural hot spring pools that average 50°C and cool towards the ocean. There is a change house, a picnic shelter, composting pit toilets and a viewing platform along the trail. No guided program, group rate, booking route, minimum age or capacity limit is published anywhere on the park page, and the park is reached only by boat or float plane from operators that hold a park-use permit.
Step off a boat or a float plane at the dock, then walk 2 km of boardwalk through old growth rainforest, climbing several sections of stairs, with a viewing platform part way along that looks out over Hot Springs Cove. At the pools they pick their way across a rock-strewn area with uneven footing, down to six pools that step down from a waterfall, hottest at the top and cooled by ocean swells at the bottom. Then the same 2 km back to the dock.
Good to know
Composting toilets at the dock, at the start of the boardwalk and at the pools, plus a change house and a picnic shelter, all of them outdoors. There is no road access, drinking water is not mentioned, and no group rate, minimum age or capacity limit is published, so anything past the $3 day-use fee needs a phone call.
Sources disagree. This park goes by two names. BC Parks renamed it Nism̓aakqin Park in 2025, but its own brochures, the dock signs and most boat operators still say Maquinna Marine Park or Hot Springs Cove. It is all the same place, so do not worry if you are quoted one name and booked under the other.
Washrooms
This park has two composting toilets, one at the start of the boardwalk and another at the end near the hot springs. There is a picnic shelter and a large grassy area at the head of the dock with an information shelter and composting toilet.
Lunch space
There is a picnic shelter and a large grassy area at the head of the dock with an information shelter and composting toilet. The change room and picnic shelter have hooks available for visitors to hang bags out of reach of wildlife.
Rain backup
Needs confirmation
Strollers
The boardwalk includes several sections of stairs that can be physically challenging for some visitors. Access to the pools is through a rock-strewn area with uneven footing.
Wheelchair access
The boardwalk includes several sections of stairs that can be physically challenging for some visitors. Access to the pools is through a rock-strewn area with uneven footing.
Bus parking
It is accessible by boat and float plane from Tofino, Ucluelet, Hot Springs Cove, Tahsis and Gold River. A dock is located on the west side of Openit Peninsula, beside the park entrance.
Nearby park
Needs confirmation
Restrictions
Access is by boat and float plane only, from Tofino, Ucluelet, Hot Springs Cove, Tahsis and Gold River. There is no road to the park.. Dogs and other pets, camping, campfires, glass containers, soaps, and shampoos are not allowed in or near the hot spring.. Pets are not permitted at the hot springs beyond the start of the boardwalk.. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the park.. Glass containers are not permitted in and around the pools.. Camping and fires are prohibited in the mux̣ʷšiƛa hot springs area at the southern part of Openit Peninsula in the park.. In provincial parks, any person acting as a guide or offering guiding services, including vessel drop-offs, must hold a valid park-use permit.. There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.. Docking is allowed for vessels 12 m and under. Larger vessels must anchor in the cove.