Vanishing River

As a child, I heard stories about Vanishing Rivier. I heard that the Vanishing River earned its name because it defied the scientists who tried to find where it went. I heard that scientists put GPS trackers into the river so they would float along and the river could be mapped but the GPS trackers always vanished along the route and could never provide the data. Rumours circulated that divers tried to follow the river but would get stuck and need to turn back and be rescued. However, none of that is true.

The vanishing river is Benson River and it is part of a karst system that has created many places to visit on Vancouver Island. Benson River flows through a canyon and suddenly drops into a cave and disappears, hence the name Vanishing River. The water flows underground for approximately 2 km before suddenly reappearing in another area. That area is the Reappearing River.

Vanishing River is one part of the Alice Lake Loop. Visitors can explore many different karst formations as well as lakes for camping, fishing, or kayaking.

There is a sign at the turn for this site, warning people that the site is closed. The Vanishing River has been closed since 2012 when there was a washout in the road. The road has not been repaired, I assume because they no longer use the road for active logging.

If you decide to go anyways, you will see a section of road where the cliffside edge has begun to erode into the slope below. The damaged section of the road has been marked off, but it is easy to stay to the left and safely pass this area. However, with north coast rains, that may not stay true forever.

The trail is closed so the trailhead is not marked. When driving, you will see a small pullout that is marked with tree tape. If you reach the correct pull out the tree tape marks the trailhead.

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The trail is not long, a few hundred meters at most, but it is very overgrown, so watch your footing. The trail is also steep and very slick. It can be difficult to navigate if it has recently rained.

As the trail opens up, you are still above the river. You can stop and see where the river vanished into the cave system below. You can also see that over time wind storms have brought down enough trees to clog the cave entrance and mostly block it from view.

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The trail continues until you reach the river bed. From there you can see the river vanishing from various viewpoints. Vistors at the riverbed should remain cautious. The rocks are wet and slippery. The logs are precariously balanced. The water is rushing. The cave system has many sections that go for great length entirely underwater, do not fall in.

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Once you have explored to your heart’s content, you can play a game called find the trail. Once you have found the trail you can hike back out to your vehicle. Have a change of clothes, if you slip at any point you will want clean clothes.