Walk on the Wild Side of Vancouver Island

Victoria moves at its own pace--a slow one--which makes it perfect for walks short and long, past architectural landmarks, historic homes, fabulous gardens and parks. Make time, before or after the following hikes, to walk around the city’s center, past large flower baskets hanging from lampposts.

Just outside Victoria’s tidy confines are some stunning, surprisingly rugged provincial parks laced with miles of fine hiking trails. Two of the island’s two dozen coastal parks that I particularly enjoy are Goldstream Provincial Park and East Sooke Regional Park.

Goldstream Provincial Park

Just 12 miles from downtown Victoria is Goldstream, a gem of a provincial park with mighty trees and impressive waterfalls. Sunlight slants through narrow openings in the tall tree canopy to light a world of alders, maples and flowering dogwoods, as well as bracken, sword and maidenhair ferns.

Arbutus Loop Trail and Arbutus Ridge Trail are short nature trails that explore the habitat of Canada’s only broad-leafed evergreen. The arbutus, characterized by its curious thick, leathery leaves and reddish trunk with peeling bark, grows only on Vancouver Island and B.C.’s southwest coast.

Goldstream River was named by optimistic prospectors. While Goldstream did produce some flashes in the pan, nobody got rich quick. Today the gravels of Goldstream still contain some tiny gold flakes, but the real riches of the stream are its fish. From late October through December, thousands of salmon--chum, coho and Chinook--enter the river from the Pacific via Finlayson Arm. The spawning salmon draw thousands of spectators, who learn more about the fish, as well as surrounding forest and footpaths, at Freeman King Visitor Center, which can be reached from the north end of the picnic area parking lot.

The upper leg of Goldstream Trail parallels the Goldstream River, passing large trees, and visits 25-foot Goldstream Falls. Goldmine Trail leads past Gold Rush-era diggings and crosses Niagara Creek to the brink of 156-foot Niagara Falls.

Prospectors’ Trail (3.7 miles), which offers the longest tour of the park, tours the Douglas fir forest alongside Goldstream River and the oak and arbutus woodland on higher slopes.

Access: Leave Victoria on Route 1 (Island Highway) and drive 12 miles to Goldstream Provincial Park. The day-use area entry is near the junction of the highway and Finlayson Arm Road.

East Sooke Regional Park

Imagine black bears roaming coastal headlands just miles from genteel Victoria. This is Vancouver’s wild west coast, a wilderness located a short ride from the tearooms and the fine hotels.

About 40 miles of trails crisscross East Sooke Regional Park, a diverse preserve of rocky ridges, rain forest and rugged coastline. I have not included a map for this park. The park’s interior is cut by many old roads and trails, sometimes making navigation difficult. Watch for trail signs. A park map is found at the two park entrances.

Springtime is when the buttercups bloom, along with monkey flowers, orange honeysuckle and a host of other wildflowers. And summertime is when pods of killer whales nose into the park’s coves.

The park’s most popular spot is Ayland Farm, a onetime apple orchard that offers picnicking, a sandy beach and good swimming. It’s also the park’s major trail head.

A favorite 7.5-mile loop of local hikers leaves Ayland Farm, climbs Babbington Hill via Babbington Hill Trail, heads straight for the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then joins the Coast Trail at Cabin Point for the return to the trail head.

For an adventure to remember, try the 12.5-mile Coast Trail, which extends from Ayland Farm to Iron Mine Bay. You’ll need to arrange a car shuttle for the hike, which takes about seven hours in wet weather, five hours in dry. Elevation gain and loss is minimal.

Coast Trail highlights include craggy headlands, a native petroglyph that looks like a seal, forests of cedar, Douglas fir, western hemlock and Sitka spruce, as well as grand views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Peninsula.

Access: Entry to the park is off East Sooke Road or Gillespie Road.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Goldstream, Arbutus Ridge, Prospectors’ Trails

WHERE: East Sooke and Goldstream Regional Parks.

DISTANCE: 1-to-12-mile hikes.

TERRAIN: Tall forests, bold headlands.

HIGHLIGHTS: Wild coast just minutes from downtown Victoria.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Easy to strenuous.

PRECAUTIONS: Always be prepared for rain.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: BC Parks, South Vancouver Island District; tel. (604) 391-2300.