AT A GLANCE
Why go?
The Alberni Valley Lookout is Port Alberni's most beloved viewpoint: a broad, open bald on the hills above the east end of town where the trees give way to a sweeping panorama of the whole valley below. Once a firewatch site, this vista rewards a short, manageable hike with one of the best effort-to-reward views on Vancouver Island's mid-island — the town, the long Alberni Inlet, two lakes and a ring of mountains laid out beneath you.↗↗↗
It sits just minutes from the highway and downtown, on Lacy Lake Road behind the well-known Coombs Country Candy shop, so it doubles as an easy half-day outing you can pair with fudge, coffee and other valley hikes to waterfalls. With a 4.8 rating from dozens of visitors and hundreds of photos, it has earned its reputation as the quintessential local climb.↗↗↗
A fire lookout's legacy over the valley
The Lookout began life as a firewatch station, and on a clear day you can still make out the concrete foundations of the old lookout building at the summit — sturdy enough that hikers use them as benches while they eat lunch and take in the view. Over time the bald hilltop it stood on has become the town's signature scenic spot, so famous that locals say you can pick out your own house from the top.
