Scott, a merchant of Bombay, was one of the principal backers of the voyage. The park is characterized by 64 kilometers of spectacular ocean frontage, including about 23 kilometers of beaches, running from Nissen Bight in the north to San Josef Bay in the south. Rocky promontories and headlands intersperse wide sandy beaches. Upland areas of the park are heavily forested with red and yellow cedar, lodgepole pine, hemlock and fir. Near Nissen Bight and Hansen Lagoon are concentrations of spruce.
Undergrowth is mostly salal, salmonberry, evergreen huckleberry and fern.
The highest point in Cape Scott Provincial Park is Mount St. Patrick which rises 415 meters above sea level. Hansen Lagoon is a stopping place for Canada geese and a variety of waterfowl traveling the Pacific Flyway. The ubiquitous gull and other sea birds frequent the shoreline. Deer, elk, black bear, otter, cougars and wolves are in evidence in the forested and open uplands, while seals and sea lions inhabit offshore islands. The heavy rainfalls and violent windstorms of the Cape Scott area have shaped its history.