Mount Tolmie Park

PARK HISTORY Before Europeans settled in the area, the Songhees The construction of the summit viewing area and people called this hill “Pkaals”. In more recent times, as landscaping for the park entrance and picnic areas early as 1845, this hill was referred to as Mount Tolmie, began in 1957, funded by the Provincial Capital after Dr. W. F. Tolmie, a surgeon with the Hudson’s Bay Commission. The Capital Regional District’s water Company. Dr. Tolmie was also a biologist who became reservoir followed in 1969. The reservoir has a capacity a prominent citizen in the area. of 4.8 million litres and serves the neighbourhoods east of Mount Douglas to the southern boundary of Saanich. Originally, in 1891, an area of 6.48 ha (16 acres) was identified for a Park Reserve and later officially Volunteers started removing invasive plants such as became parkland. This new parkland continued to be blackberry, broom, daphne and ivy in 1994 and these called Mount Tolmie Park. The park grew in 1926 when activities led to the formation of the Mount Tolmie Vista of Shelbourne Valley 1906-08, Saanich Archives additional property was purchased by the Municipality Conservancy Association. Its members have planted of Saanich and again in 2003 through a donation, hundreds of trees and shrubs and continue to restore which included part of Kingsberry Pond. the former natural character of the park. In 1995, this philosophy was formalized when the park was Mount Tolmie has attracted various public activities re-zoned to Natural Park (P-4N). In 2008, the Saanich over the years, including Easter Sunday services at Rotary Club planted 50 Garry oaks to commemorate the park summit, and an unlikely amusement park the 50th year of the Rotary organization. roller coaster that burned down in the early 1900s. The Easter services began in 1923 and continued until This prominent park is a popular destination for 1942, when they were interrupted by the Department residents and tourists, and to accommodate increasing of National Defense’s use of the summit as an numbers of visitors, improvements were made in observationInterurban post Rail duringTrail continues WWII. The Easter services 2010. These included the upgrade of the lower parking through Gowlland Tod prompted tothe Lochside formal Regional Trail organization of natural area lot and the installation of the geographic marker at Provincal Lochside Trail continues to Park preservation efforts in 1937, when peopleCENTRAL began SAANICHthe summit,Swartz a joint Bay – Tsawwassen project Ferry between the Mount Tolmie to protect the plants from picking at Easter time. Community SidneyAssociation – Anacortes Ferry and the Saanich Rotary Club. Vista of Shelbourne Valley 2009

17

WALLACE DRIVE

Lochside Regional Trail Bear Hill Regional Park

PARK FEATURESWEST SAANICH ROAD NATURAL HISTORY WILLIS POINT The exceptional views from the summitROAD are part of In addition to its Garry oak ecosystem, other The mottled, grey-coloured bedrock of Mount Tolmie’s the reason the park has always been associated with summit and surrounding outcrops belong to the OLDFIELD factorsHAMSTERLY contribute to Mount Tolmie’s ecological hiking and sight-seeing. Widely recognized as “The significance.SAYWARD Its geographical location and the height Wark gneiss. This is composed of a variety of rock

OLD Best Place to View the City”, the summit viewpoints of the mountain provideFOWLER an important stop-over metamorphosed during the Jurassic period, about WEST Lochside provide an excellent panorama ofSAANICH Park 200 million years ago. Signs of the last ice age (that for migratory birds. Its range of naturalPARKER features, and the surrounding region, including Mount Douglas, ended about 12,000 years ago) are visible in areas ROAD including a pond, open rock outcrops and seasonal the Olympic Mountains, Race Rocks and Lighthouse, pools, provide habitat for a variety of plants and below the summit. Many broken rock faces have fine

the and in the Cascade Elk Lakewildlife. The park supports approximately 100 bird scratches, called slickensides, and other rock faces

WEST SPARTON ROAD HARTLAND KATHGAR ROAD Killarney Range of Washington State. species, 11 butterfly species, 15 mammals and have been marked with shallow grooves from the Mount Work Lake SAANICH Regional probably thousands of insect species.FENN glaciers that moved across their surface. Park ROAD Trails WALEMA Mountain Biking Spectacular spring wildflowers includingAGATE camas, Mount Tolmie is the highest peak in the Bowker Creek Area There are over 1500 m of trails within the park and Interurban Rail Trail white fawn lily, shootingstar,CORDOVA BAY western buttercup, watershed and defines the eastern boundary. Over

many lead to the summit, through meadows and up PATRICIA BAY HWY Dominion sea blush and satinflower colourMcMORRAN’S the slopes, while half of the original creek channel has been piped and rocky slopes. They also access picnicAstrophysical and viewing WHITEHEAD Observatory a diversity of mosses, lichens, licorice ferns and is now underground. Bowker Creek and its watershed sites, secludedPROSPECT natural LAKE areas and great spots for Cordova Bay Haro Strait EASTLAKE bird watching and quiet contemplation. other native speciesCLAREMONT cling to trees and rocky areas. and meadows were an important part of the cultural

ROAD heritage of Saanich. Songhees peoples managed the LAKE CORDOVA BAY LAKE ECHO Beaver Lake land using fire and cultivation of camas bulbs, which

Natural Areas WESLEY Prospect SAANICH HALIBURTON B.C.’s only nativeLake oak species, the Garry oak, is at the were a staple food and trade item. PROSPECT WEST ESTELLINE WEST extreme northern limit of its North AmericanOLD range D’ARCY SAANICH on VancouverSouth Prospect Island. The dry, exposed rocky bluffs of 17 Lake Park CORDOVA

HIGHLANDS Mount Tolmie Park support the shallowTrail Glendale soil ROADGarry oak TIMBER

ecosystem. The remnant of this ecosystem within the AMBLEWOOD McMinn BAY Park

park is one of the best in Saanich. Also found in the ELK LAKE Royal Oak park and unique to our region is a broadleaf evergreen Burial Park

tree, the arbutus, with a satiny, smooth, chartreuse- DR

coloured bark that turns reddish-brown in the fall and ROYAL OAK PROSPECT To Interurban Glendale peels away. The peeling bark isRail an Trail adaptation to this ROYAL OAK DR Logan Gardens & Park Woodland Cormorant Point region’sLAKE droughty summers. ROYAL OAK DRIVE Logan Quick’s Park WAY MT. DOUGLAS Maltby MARKHAM ROAD Bottom ELK LAKE CHATTERTON Margaret Bay WEST SAANICH

Lake Park BLENKINSOP Calvert Bike Route BALMACARRA Park Mount

ROAD Douglas V.I. Walking Route Technical Park ROAD To Lochside Park Regional Trail HILL Rithet’s Bog ASH Camosun CHATTERTON Conservation College INTERURBAN Glendale Trail Area CEDAR MUNN Layritz Royal Oak Trail Lochside Regional Trail FERNDALE Park NORTH BEACH

MANN WAY Brydon Park GRANDVIEW CARR DRIVE MAJESTIC Sport EMILY SHOREWAY Institute WILKINSON Copley QUADRA TORQUAY VANALMAN Arbutus tree Geological feature at summit West Park Copley Francis/King East Park STREET FERNDALE CAREY SHELBOURNE Regional Park KENMORE VANALMAN Blenkinsop San Juan Greenway ROAD DOUGLAS Lake TYNDALLSAN JUAN Strawberry GLANFORD BECKWITH Knoll Park INTERURBAN PROSPECT ROY ROAD Beckwith Park Colquitz River Trail San Juan LAKE LILY ROAD Panama Blenkinsop Lambrick Greenway PATRICIA BAY HWY

HOLLAND Hill Park JUDAH Greenway Park PARK INFORMATION HILL CEDAR Arbutus Cove Rosedale MOUNT DOUGLAS CROSS FELTHAM ARBUTUS Park BLENKINSOP HOLLYDENE GLANFORD Legend NICHOLSON ALLISON LARCHWOOD DOUGLASROGERS CEDAR Brodick To Lochside GORDON HEAD Hollydene Please treat the park withBURNSIDE respect to preserve the Garry oak Park Park Christmas Hill Regional Trail Blair Montague HILL Park Fairburn EDGELOW Park ROAD Nature Sanctuary Bow HARO ecosystems and other sensitive natural areas. Do your part: CROSS BLAIR Park Commuter and Park LAVAL WEST Feltham Trail Gordon Head WEST To Galloping Goose Local Connector GUINEVERE ROAD Feltham Regional Trail Braefoot Park Coastal BORDEN Park • Stay on the designated trails. INTERURBAN ROAD Cycling Route McKENZIE Greenway ROAD Victoria CEDAR

General SHELBOURNE McKENZIE Hospital QUADRA HILL McKENZIE • Cycling is permitted only on the paved road within GARNET Seaside

HOLLAND FINNERTY CREED CRANFORD HELMCKEN REYNOLDS Touring BURNSIDE SAANICH CROSS Goward the park. Greenways & Reynolds Park Route WILKINSON Park ARBUTUS GRANGE Touring Routes Onyx SINCLAIR Telegraph Cove WAY Park • Dogs areGalloping permitted Goose Regional Trail in the park and must be underMARIGOLD Galloping Goose Regional COLUMBINE UNION TELEGRAPH COVE Swan Lake CEDAR HILL CROSS University WEST LODGE MIDGARD Maynard Trail continues to Westshore and BURNSIDE RD of BAY control. Please pick up after your pet and deposit bagsAVENUE Park Potholes Provincial Park Beach Access Playfair Victoria Park Horner in waste containers. Park CAREY TELEGRAPH McKENZIE Saanich QUADRA Portage Inlet TILLICUM Police Cadboro Gyro TRANS CANADA HWY VERNON Mount Park • VIEWLeave the ROYAL wildflowers and wildlife undisturbed. Park Trails POPLAR TELEGRAPH MT. BAKER VIEW TATTERSALL Tolmie BLANSHARD Cedar Hill CADBORO Golf Course Park ADMIRALS TATTERSALL Seaside KILLARNEY GYRO • Keep our parks clean and put litter in waste containers. TUDOR TUDOR NORTH

MAPLEWOOD RICHMOND Touring COWPER WHITE ROCK TILLICUM CEDAR HILL DERBY Route HIBBENS SAANICH Cadboro Pt. • Do not plant or dispose of garden waste in any park lands. Camrose Cadboro Bay CADBORO OBED BURNSIDE COOK Park TUDOR BAYNES DOUGLAS ADMIRALS

SHELBOURNE OAK BAY GORGE BOLESKINE OAK CLOVERDALE RD Browning Maynard Cove DYSART Park WEST WEST Peacock RD Hill Park McANALLY TILLICUM HARRIET Organizations QUADRA TUDOR

GORGE TOLMIE NORTH DAIRY Mount Tolmie Conservancy Association ROAD Camosun VICTORIA College WEST Friends of Bowker Creek Society LANSDOWNE

HARRIET Saanich Neighbourhood Context Map To Allenby Park RICHMOND

ESQUIMALT VICTORIA BAY

FOUL Selkirk Trestle

Seaside Touring Route continues to Galloping Goose Regional Trail continues to Downtown Victoria Royal Jubilee Hospital

Saanich Parks: 250-475-5522 www.saanichparks.ca