Last week I wrote a post about our mini vacation on Vancouver Island, a trip I take annually. This year we stayed in the small town of Port Renfrew, BC, which is located about a two hour drive west of Victoria, British Columbia’s capital.
Like I mentioned in my other post, for this trip we wanted to stay at places that were out of the ordinary. Our second day/night was spent at Soule Creek Lodge, an experience that’s definitely extraordinary. Soule Creek Lodge is a truly unique place to say at and I’ll be talking about it with friends and family for years to come.
Soule Creek Lodge is located at 6215 Powder Main Road, Port Renfrew. The lodge is located on top of a mountain with a packed gravel road taking you up a pretty steep and twisty road, the lodge is about a two kilometer drive up Powered Main road, from the main paved road. As you drive up the gravel road, there are “Soule Creek Lodge” signs posted along the way, which is helpful because the lodge is in the wilderness and you could think you’re lost (don’t worry, you won’t get lost, it’s a road that keeps going up and up, just follow the signs).
As you make your final approach, way up the mountain, there’s a large building that houses the front desk. This building has a large dining room upstairs, which can also be used to just hang out. In addition to tables and chairs, there are couches, books, and even board games for your entertainment. The views from this room are incredible, you get to see the mountains and ocean surrounding the area. This common area is also nicely decorated with lots of aboriginal art like masks, canoe paddles, and paintings on wood. This building also has suites that guests can rent, however, the main attraction is the buildings outside where we stayed.
When you come to the Soule Creek Lodge, you’re personally greeted by Tim, who is one of the owners, to check you in. Tim showed us around the main lodge, told us about local attractions in the area, and then took us to our very own personal yurt! That’s right, we stayed in a yurt, which was super cool.
What is a yurt? A yurt is the traditional nomadic home of Mongolians and other people in the region, here’s a link to wikipedia’s explanation and history of the yurt. Basically, a yurt is a dome shaped building that is portable, traditionally animal skins are used to cover the accordion lattice walls.
However, the yurts at Soule Creek Lodge are modern interpretation of traditional yurts, with luxurious interiors and modern materials used to build, insulate, and cover them. There are six different yurts available at Soule Creek, they are of various sizes and offer you different views of the surrounding area. These yurts are located in complete wilderness, you’re literally inches away from the forest and there’s wildlife all around you. The yurts are quite spread apart, giving you lots of privacy and making it feel like it’s just you in the wilderness; your neighbors are the trees, birds, and breathtaking views.
Our stay was at the Cheewat Yurt (#6), this yurt is surrounded by trees and has a large wrap around deck. Most of the views from this yurt are of the trees and mountains, but the deck also offers some views of the straight of Juan de Fuca and Olympic Peninsula. Spending time on the deck was very refreshing, thankfully we had sunny skies, and we enjoyed every moment in the sun surrounded by fresh air and nature.
The inside of our yurt was pretty amazing, our yurt had a 20′ diameter, giving us 315 square feet of living space. The yurt felt very spacious, which is enhanced even further by the high ceiling. Our yurt included wood floors, a king size bed, a small bathroom with a toilet and a stand up shower, and a sink was located just outside the bathroom next to the coffee/tea serving area and the microwave. There was also a small seating area with two chairs.
Our yurt was very clean and had a very luxurious feel, there were lots of windows and a ceiling see-through dome, which let in even more light (the dome can be covered to stop light from coming in from the top). I absolutely loved my stay in the yurt and now I really want one of my own yurts. The only small problem I had with our yurt was the bathroom, although it is a separate area inside the yurt, the top part of the bathroom is open, letting in all the beautiful smells into the main living space when nature calls, I don’t need to explain, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about ;-). However, some of the other yurts do have bathrooms that are completely closed off or separate attachments to the yurt.
All guests at the lodge are served breakfast between 8:00 and 9:30 am, breakfast includes pancakes, toast, eggs, meat, fruit salad, a mini smoothie, coffee, tea and juice. A three course dinner is also available, served at 6:30 pm, fresh local ingredients are used. Dinner reservations should be made at 10 am on the day you plan on having your meal.
Prices for the yurts vary depending on season and the individual yurts. We suggest you go on Soule Creek Lodge website and check the prices for the yurt you’re interested in at the desired dates.
Overall, I was very happy with my stay at the Soule Creek Lodge. This is one of most unique places you can stay in Canada and I absolutely loved every minute of my stay in my yurt, I really liked the feeling of being in the wilderness and enjoying the beautiful scenery Soule Creek Lodge had to offer, I wish I could have spent a lot more time there, maybe we’ll come back for another visit in a year or two. We’ve already suggested Soule Creek to a few friends and family members and we definitely suggest it anyone looking for an adventure, you will not be disappointed.
I would like to thank Tim, the owner, and the staff at Soule Creek Lodge for making our stay a memorable one.
