"Dakota 576” memorial near Port Hardy, BC

"Dakota 576" was a Royal Air Force C-47 which crashed in thick forest after running out of fuel during a training mission on April 19, 1944. The two pilots were killed, but the wireless operator miraculously survived. 

This trail begins at a very steep and overgrown paved road just before you reach the Port Hardy ferry terminal. The road leads to an abandoned sawmill site that has been cleaned up - keep going straight instead of following the road to the right.

The trail narrows and goes into new growth in an old clear-cut logging area along the south lip of a small but steep valley. At the head of that valley, the trail crosses to the north side of the valley and heads back towards Port Hardy. There’s a lot of logging waste along this part of the trail, some of it trees of a fairly substantial size.

About 20 minutes from the trailhead there are good views of Port Hardy for a few minutes, then you enter thick old-growth forest and the trail gets rougher and wetter. Cedar blocks have been placed at some wet places, and a rope has been installed at one point to help hikers get down and back up a steep rock slope.

It takes about 45 minutes to reach the wreck site, which is in remarkably good condition given the weather here. A stainless steel memorial on a concrete base is at the forward end of the fuselage (the cockpit is gone, probably removed during the salvage). It lists the crew members and provides a brief description of what happened.

This is a powerful site - please respect it.

The trail is not kid-friendly or dog-friendly due to steep sections with ropes to assist, and lots of jagged metal at the crash site.