A sighting of land on June 5, 1579 was recorded by his crew aboard the vessel Golden Hind at a latitude of 48 degrees north but not finding safe harbour, they moved on southward.

The first European explorer likely to have observed any of the mountains of the Vancouver Island Ranges would have been Captain Juan José Pérez aboard the Spanish frigate Santiago.

Captain James Cook entered Nootka Sound March 29, 1778 and spent about a month refitting his ships Discovery and Resolution.

In 1788 British Captain John Meares began a small settlement at Nootka Sound and the following year, the Spanish built a permanent fort at Friendly Cove (Yuquot) in Nuu-chah-nulth territory.

The central part of the island, the area now within Strathcona Provincial Park, was explored by Reverend William Washington Bolton, Headmaster of the Victoria School for Boys, in 1894 and 1896.