print. The Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail is now open for exploring. Trail Rating: Challenging - not suitable for all ages and abilities DIFFICULT 9.9 mi. To the south it runs along Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail, winds through the street and trails in the City of Langford, follows the Galloping Goose Regional Trail and meanders along the waterfront in the City of Victoria to Clover Point. Trail is … The Sooke Hills provide a buffer between the urbanized areas of the Greater Victoria area and the region’s water supply, while offering back country hiking, cycling… Finally, bottom right - rest assured you'll have good warning of most hills, blind corners or stretches of loose gravel. A wooded section near the south end. Much of the 24,000-kilometre route requires walking or cycling on roads and highways. Corner Hill Loop. There are views of Greater Victoria in the distance. However, the trail also acts as a connection for a much larger project: The Great Trail, which celebrates its 25th … The route is clearly signed. 23 likes. The Regional Trails Management Plan (2016) recommends a trail be developed along Humpback Road to link the E&N Rail Trail to Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park in the City of Langford. At the roundabout, continue straight to stay on Westshore Pkwy. CYCLING THE SOOKE HILLS WILDERNESS TRAIL. The first day, over the Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail with its amazing views from the Malahat, ends at a B&B halfway up the west side of Shawnigan Lake. The Great Trail â â â ââRegional Trail Road Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Other Regional Park Other Park/Protected Area Drinking Water Protection Zone Greater Victoria Water Supply Area Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail (13 km) (Part of The Great Trail) E&N Rail Trail Humpback Connector I did this. 343 reviews Directions Print/PDF Map; Share; VIEW FULL MAP. Keep right and anticipate other users along the trail. If you include a new trail section added at the north by the Malahat First Nation to connect to the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT - local name for the TCT), then it's closer to ~22kms. “The park, along with adjacent watershed lands, helps protect Greater Victoria’s water supply, conserves biodiversity, and … 40 km of the route is within the Capital Regional District. In early 2019, news spread that the BC government was considering building a road through the Sooke Hills as an alternative to the Malahat highway. There are steep grades up to 16%, narrow sections and rocky, gravel surfaces along the route. Garth Campbell made his Victoria cycling buddies jealous this week. Equestrians are permitted on the north end of the trail, from the Cowichan Valley Regional District-Capital Regional District boundary southwards for 4km. It's the new part of the TCT (Great Trail) that goes from Langford to Shawnigan. Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail Total Distance: 18 km. This mountain park was one of the earliest provincial parks established on southern Vancouver Island and is part of the extensive Sooke Hills greenbelt. It links Langford with the Cowichan Valley and beyond. After a bit of a mess up with our initial plan (read the Sooke Hills Trail post for details), my family (husband and nine-year-old twins) found ourselves at the access point to the Cowichan Valley Trail near the McGee Creek Trestle, deciding whether we should go north towards the iconic Kinsol Trestle or south towards Victoria. Although the terrain is gravel and path is quite broad, it’s still marked as a moderately difficult trail because of steep sections with a 16% grade. The maps also show … After a bit of a mess up with our initial plan (read the Sooke Hills Trail post for details), my family (husband and nine-year-old twins) found ourselves at the access point to the Cowichan Valley Trail near the McGee Creek Trestle, deciding whether we should go north towards the iconic Kinsol Trestle or south towards Victoria. Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail - Vancouver Island Hike The Great Trail stretches 24,000-kilometres, through 15,000 communities across Canada. Follow the Galloping Goose Regional Trail that begins at Harbour Road in Victoria for approximately 15 km. This park consists of two separate land areas located on either side of the Goldstream catchment. Fri Jul 17 2020. But the new Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail is rated challenging, and is not for everyone. Sooke Hills Wilderness Park is the Capital Regional District’s largest regional park at 4100 hectares, with its neighbour Sea to Sea Regional Park being the second largest at 4000 hectares. I rode the new trail south to north, loaded up with gear, on a hot summer day, and found it a tough go (not for everyone). There are no guarantees with any information provided in this website. Make noise to avoid surprise encounters, especially around blind corners and areas with dense vegetation. Garth Campbell made his Victoria cycling buddies jealous this week. Hiking. The south end of the Cowichan Valley Trail now connects to a new trail segment managed by the local Malahat First Nation, SW of Shawnigan Lake, and then the new Sooke Hills Trail. ... Mountain bike recommended, but even with a low gearing you are probably going to be walking some of the steeper ones. Follow the Cowichan Valley Trail – Malahat Connector south from the Sooke Lake Road entrance for approximately 9 km, where it joins Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail north trail head. The Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail is now open for exploring. Two parking lots provide access to Sooke Hills Wilderness and Mount Wells Regional Parks. The trail lies between the Humpback Reservoir in Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park and the Capital Regional District-Cowichan Valley Regional District boundary. The third day, partly along the Cowichan River and with more amazing … A VITA volunteer – Alan Philip of Duncan – has compiled a series of 7 topographic maps that cover the entire Trail from Victoria to Cape Scott. The route in Langford utilizes urban trails to the West Hills housing development, reaching the Humpback Reservoir, then begins its climb over the Malahat following the Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail, which opened in late June 2017. You'll pass through remote areas, so you may want to read up on how to react should you meet larger wildlife, particularly bears (here's a useful Parks Canada link). Size: 151 hectares (373 acres) or 60 km long Location: Sooke, Metchosin, Colwood, Langford, View Royal, Saanich, Victoria Classification: park corridor Activities: cycling, hiking, horse riding, inline skating Facilities: parking, washrooms, trail Acquired: 1987 Visitation: 100,000-150,000/yr est (1993) Features: a rails-to-trails … “The CRD is opening the new Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail as a major visitor opportunity in the vast 4,090-hectare Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park,” says CRD Board Chair Barbara Desjardins. There's a southern section on an old, repurposed hardpack backroad. edit text Thursday morning I cycled 35km roundtrip on the Great Trail from Humpback Reservoir to Stebbings Xing and return.This trail … Steep little hill (north section). Rest at the viewing platform, 2.5 km from the Humpback trailhead, to take in the sights and sounds of Waugh Creek Falls, which flows forcefully in the winter and spring. Both parks are in the traditional territory of the T’Sou-ke and Scia’new (Beecher Bay) First Nations. Saved from ... Cycling on the Sooke Wilderness Trail. The CRD Parks mount wells regional park E & N RAIL Y Mount Wells Regional Park Mount Wells 352m Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve Humpback Resevoir I R WI N R O A D H U M P B A C K R O … When Sooke Hills Wilderness is open this means you can bike a complete trail from the JSB to Lake Cowichan if you ignore … Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail provides part of both The Great Trail and the Vancouver Island Spine Trail routes. As you will see in the map legends, the maps indicate completed trail sections in green, sections of the route using roads in yellow, proposed/projected sections of trail … There's gorgeous terrain, and it was a joy not to have to contend with traffic on the big highway to make my way north. The Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail, which opened in June of 2017, completed trail across the so-called ‘Malahat Gap’ in the Great Trail/Trans Canada Trail and Vancouver Island Trail. Most of the track is level and wide enough to comfortably pass oncoming bikes. Turn right onto Meridian Ave. Wildlife may be in the area. Follow “The Great Trail” signage in the City of Langford to Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park on Humpback Road. 8. This website does not encourage anyone to undertake activities in the backwoods without considering fully issues of safety, access and readiness. Wilderness (typically no bikes in USA) BLM (public) USFS (Wildlife sanctuaries darker than usfs) ... Trails Mountain Bike 45 Trails E-Bike 34 Trails Hike 38 Trails Trail Running 38 Trails Horse 11. Different sections of the route have Mount MacDonald - Loop. New horizons will open for hikers and bicyclists in July with the unveiling of the Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail through an area that has been closed to the public for more than 15 years. status date description; Aug 2, 2020 @ 7:47am. Easier to go up east side and down west, especially if you have a dog. 2020 Jul 5 - A mountain biking adventure in the Sooke Wilderness Park, in Victoria, BC, Canada .. There is no CRD parking lot at the north trail head. The north section opened in 2017, and the south section opened late 2020. MODERATE 3.2 mi. The island highway becomes Sooke Road. A VITA volunteer – Alan Philip of Cowichan – has recently completed (July, 2019) the compilation of a series of 7 topographic mapsthat cover the entire Trail from Victoria to Cape Scott. Cowichan Valley Trail The Cowichan Valley Trail is a spectacular multi-use trail that is an integral part of The Great Trail (Trans Canada Trail) route on Southern Vancouver Island. 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