June Hiking Update!
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Victoria has a seemingly endless number of amazing hiking trails. Most take you to wild and beautiful Pacific Ocean views and others take you to tranquil lakes in beautiful BC Coastal Rainforest wilderness. Regional Parks and Provincial Parks are everywhere you turn in Victoria and finding them is not too difficult. These are some of the best of the best hiking trails in and around Victoria.
Avatar Grove Bear Hill East Sooke Park Elk/Beaver Lake Esquimalt Lagoon 
Fort Rodd Hill Francis/King Galloping Goose Goldstream Park Gowlland Tod Grass Lake John Dean Park Juan de Fuca Trail Lone Tree Hill Mill Hill Mount Doug Mount Tolmie Sooke Potholes Spectacle Lake Thetis Lake Witty's Lagoon
Juan de Fuca Trail is a beautiful wilderness trail that hugs the west coast of Vancouver Island between Jordan River(north of Sooke) and Port Renfrew. Established as a provincial park in 1995, the Juan de Fuca Trail traces its origins to the 1889 telegraph line that connected Victoria and Bamfield. The telegraph line connected Bamfield to the British Empire via a transpacific cable. This cable required patrolmen to routinely check the line. Linesmen were housed in in cabins along the route. Juan de Fuca Trail and the West Coast Trail share this function, however, the West Coast Trail continued to function as a lifesaving trail, long after what would eventually be the Juan de Fuca Trail fell into disuse. Decades later, in the 1970's, with the growing popularity of the West Coast Trail, a renewed interest in the area continued to grow. Public interest in the area collided with logging companies pushing into the area. The Victoria Sierra Club filed lawsuits in an attempt to halt logging in the Sombrio Creek and Parkinson Creek regions. The Victoria Sierra Club was successful in halting the logging and the "West Coast Strip" was preserved as a future park. Finally in the 1990's the provincial government acquired and set aside land for the proposed provincial park. The beautiful 47 kilometre Juan de Fuca Trail we see today was finally constructed and officially designated as the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. The trail and the park are simply known as Juan de Fuca Trail. The park is named after Juan de Fuca Strait, the large channel of water that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland of North America. Juan de Fuca Strait is also the international boundary between Canada and the United States. Juan de Fuca was a Greek sailer and explored the area four centuries ago and originally name it the "Strait of Anian". In 1787 British Captain Charles Barkley, following Juan de Fuca's writings about the area two centuries earlier, rediscovered "Juan de Fuca's" strait. The name stuck, and it has been known ever since as the Juan de Fuca Strait. As a Vancouver Island coast hiking trail, Juan de Fuca Trail is comparable to the world renowned West Coast Trail. There are some distinct differences however. The Juan de Fuca Trail is much tamer and easily accessible at numerous access trailheads, whereas the West Coast Trail has only three access points. The West Coast Trail is brutally difficult with many difficult ladders and water crossings and is effectively a 75 kilometre, self sustained trek through the wilderness. Juan de Fuca Trail has few challenging sections and no frightening ladder climbs or cable car crossings to negotiate. Also, owing to the number of access points, Juan de Fuca Trail is usually hiked in sections as daytrips or short 1 night trips.
Avatar Grove and Canada's gnarliest tree is an amazing thing to see and finding it is half the fun. The cute little town of Port Renfrew, known for it's logging, amazing fishing and home of one of the trailheads to the world renowned West Coast Trail, is now reworking it's image to include this fantastic wonder. Dubbed Canada's gnarliest tree this mammoth cedar will surely leap from the unknown to the feature of millions of tourist photos in the coming days and years. Avatar Grove is a 50 hectare area of old growth forest it has shot to prominence in this part of the world and groups everywhere you look are embracing it as something to be saved, admired and loved. Not cut into lumber. The Victoria based Ancient Forest Alliance is at the forefront of rescuing and protecting Avatar Forest. They discovered, named and drove it into the world's eyes. Avatar Grove is slowly growing into a hiking destination. Wooden stars and a boardwalk is being constructed and seems to grow month to month. There is even a viewing platform for the gnarly tree at an ideal location to take in the view. Though Avatar Grove and Canada's gnarliest tree is a couple hours drive from Victoria, the drive is very scenic. The various sections/trailheads of the Juan de Fuca Trail are all easy stops on the way to Avatar Grove. East Sooke Regional Park, Witty's Lagoon, Fort Rodd Hill and many more sights are also located along the way.
East Sooke Regional Park is a convenient and easily accessible way to experience the wild, west coast of Vancouver Island. Weather blasted rocky cliffs, sandy beaches and deep coastal forest trails run throughout the park. Every few minutes along the coast you come to another startlingly desolate ocean vantage point. Everything about East Sooke Regional Park is just great and should not be missed on a trip to Victoria anytime of the year. The sheer size of this park and number of trails, over 50 kilometres of them. The Coastal Trail, almost 12 kilometres long, stretches out linearly in an array of pocket beaches, rocky viewpoints and fantastically alive tide pools. It hugs the cliff, ducks into the forest and back out to another stunning ocean viewpoint. It does this over and over again. Dozens of times, and not once does it get boring. The Strait of Juan de Fuca and swirling mass of green and blue stretches out toward the Olympic Mountains in the United States. East Sooke Regional Park has three main access points and trailheads. This allows the huge park to be divided up into three manageable parts, each one with very different attributes. The Aylard Farm trailhead is the easy, family friendly and relaxing way to see East Sooke Regional Park. A few short, 5 minute trails take you down to beaches, tidal pools and picnic areas. The Anderson Cove trailhead is popular with hikers tackling the more challenging trails to Babbington Hill and Mount Maguire. The Pike Road trailhead is the furthest west access to East Sooke Park with an easy, 1.5 kilometre trail leading down to Iron Mine Beach.
Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park is a wonderful coastal park overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Located in Metchosin, a scenic and largely rural community that is part of the Western Communities. If you are driving from downtown Victoria, you are just a 30 minute drive away and much of that drive is quite nice. Fort Rodd Hill and Esquimalt Lagoon are definitely worth visiting on the way to Witty’s Lagoon. Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park is a very family friendly park with its large beach, Nature Centre and over 5 kilometres of forest hiking trails. With the tide out a huge salt marsh is revealed, teeming with life. Over 160 species of birds have been documented in the park. This sand dune ecosystem is fun to explore and attracts bird watchers as well as frolicking dogs. The cute little Nature Centre is located at the main parking area for Witty’s Lagoon. Here you will find helpful CRD Regional Parks staff and volunteer naturalists ready to answer questions and help introduce you to the park. The Nature Centre is only open weekends and holidays from 12pm to 4pm. Past the Nature Centre you become immersed in a forest unexpectedly large Douglas-fir trees. The nice, wide trail sloped downward slightly as you walk along Bilston Creek and past Sitting Lady Falls. These falls are not terribly large or impressive, but marvelously scenic in this deep, dark forest. As Victoria hiking trails go, Witty’s Lagoon is not overly exciting. The Thetis Lake trails, for example are much more scenic as they skirt the lake, often from high above. What makes Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park a wonderful place to visit is because of a variety of nice features. The first great feature is its location. Metchosin is a rural, coastal escape from the big city. When you visit the park, you often find longtime locals who evidently visit the park frequently.
Preview All Victoria Hiking Trails Here...
Whistler Squamish Vancouver Clayoquot Victoria West Coast Trail
Introduction to Victoria
Victoria Attractions Attractions
Easy Hiking Trails Moderate Trails Challenging Trails
Hike in Victoria
Avatar Grove Bear Hill East Sooke Park Elk/Beaver Lake Esquimalt Lagoon Fort Rodd Hill
Francis/King Galloping Goose Goldstream Park Gowlland Tod Grass Lake John Dean Park
Juan de Fuca Trail Lone Tree Hill Mill Hill Mount Doug Mount Tolmie Sooke Potholes
Spectacle Lake Thetis Lake Witty's Lagoon
Hike the West Coast Trail
Day 1 Pachena to Darling Day 2 Darling to Tsusiat Day 3 Tsusiat to Carmanah Day 4 Carmanah to Walbran
Day 5 Walbran to Cullite Day 6 Cullite to Camper Day 7 Camper to Thrasher
Bench: a flat section in steep terrain. Characteristically narrow, flat or gently sloping with steep or vertical slopes on either side. A bench can be ...
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The rocky and narrow row of islands in Garibaldi Lake just offshore from the Garibaldi Lake campsite are known as Battleship Islands. Named by the ...
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The Garibaldi Ranges are a subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Deriving its name from Mount Garibaldi, the Garibaldi Ranges cover ...
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If you make it to the summit of Wedge Mountain you will notice off in the distance a beautifully symmetrical mountain that stands out among the rest. ...
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Neal Carter (14 Dec 1902 - 15 Mar 1978) was an early explorer of the Coast Mountains around what would eventually be called Whistler Valley. In the summer ...
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The Coast Mountains run from the Yukon down to Vancouver along the west coast of British Columbia in a band that averages 300 kilometres wide(190 miles). ...
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The Rubble Creek trailhead is the main access point for many of the best hikes and sights in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Rubble Creek is located midway ...
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Emerald Forest is a cute little forest that is well hidden between Whistler Cay and Alpine. From Whistler Village, if you go down to the end of Lorimer ...
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Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking
Alexander Falls 
Ancient Cedars 
Black Tusk Blackcomb Mountain Brandywine Falls Brandywine Meadows Brew Lake Callaghan Lake Cheakamus Lake 
Cheakamus River 
Cirque Lake Flank Trail Garibaldi Lake Garibaldi Park Helm Creek Jane Lakes Joffre Lakes Keyhole Hot Springs Logger’s Lake Madeley Lake Meager Hot Springs Nairn Falls Newt Lake Panorama Ridge Parkhurst Ghost Town Rainbow Falls Rainbow Lake Ring Lake Russet Lake Sea to Sky Trail Skookumchuck Hot Springs Sloquet Hot Springs Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck 
Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain
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Wedgemount Falls can be seen along the trail to Wedgemount Lake. As the falls flow directly from Wedgemount Lake, they are located about three quarters ...
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Nairn Falls is a wonderful, crashing and chaotic waterfall that surrounds you from the deluxe viewing platform that allows you to safely watch it from ...
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Cirque Falls crashes down from Cirque Lake to Callaghan Lake, connecting these two remarkably beautiful and very different lakes. Where Callaghan Lake is ...
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Whistler Train Wreck is a hidden little world of brightly graffiti painted, wrecked train cars along a gorgeous stretch of Cheakamus River. One ...
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Brandywine Meadows is a nice, relatively short hike to a massive flower filled valley high up in Callaghan Valley. Located 40 minutes south of Whistler, this tough and sometimes muddy trail gains a huge 550 ...
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Joffre Lakes Provincial Park is a gorgeous park with extraordinarily coloured lakes, waterfalls, stunning mountain peaks and ominous glaciers pouring into the valley. Joffre Lakes is one of those incredible places ...
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The Sea to Sky Trail is a 180 kilometre multi-use trail that runs from Squamish to D'Arcy. The trail is still under construction in many parts, however, the amazing route through Whistler is finally in ...
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Taylor Meadows is a very scenic campsite and great alternative to the much busier and more well known, Garibaldi Lake campsite. Located in Garibaldi Provincial Park between Garibaldi Lake and Black Tusk, ...
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