The Galloping Goose Regional Trail Maps Inside!! TheThe OfficialOfficial Guide:Guide: TheThe GallopingGalloping GooseGoose RegionalRegional TrailTrail By Jim Mulchinock You can travel past the finest: a quiet cove, a hidden lake, rocky outcrops, marshland, canyon land, skunk cabbage swampland, tall Douglas fir forest, Garry oak and arbutus forest, rural farmland, urban back streets, and waterways. This is the Capital Regional District at its best. From start to finish, from east to west, here’s a rundown on the Goose. Selkirk Trestle to Switch Bridge elcome to the Galloping The Galloping Goose Regional Trail Goose Regional Trail. starts at the east end of the Johnson W The Goose is your trail. De- Street bridge — trailside kilometre pending where you are, you can markers are measured from here. cycle, walk, run, jog, in-line skate, After crossing the bridge, the trail wheelchair, push a stroller, walk the continues as Harbour Road until it dog, ride a horse, commute to work, picks up the paved trail near the spend a quiet Sunday afternoon, Point Ellice Bridge and skirts the push yourself through the entire Upper Harbour to the Selkirk Trestle trail, or take a 15 minute break on now less than a kilometre ahead. this multi-use, 55 kilometre former The Selkirk Trestle — a 300-metre railway line, now a regional trail. If long, fir and hemlock trestle — spans it isn’t a motorized vehicle, you can the Selkirk Waters, a bulge in the do it on the Goose. narrow saltwater inlet curving The Goose also knows every land- north-west from Victoria’s Inner scape on southern Vancouver Island. Harbour to the Gorge and Portage row. At many of them, you must Spanning the Water yield to road traffic, so stay alert. Up When the Selkirk Trestle opened ahead: the Switch Bridge. in 1996, an important milestone The Switch Bridge, a 100 metre span was achieved in the history of the across the Trans-Canada Highway, Galloping Goose Regional Trail: a marks another important milestone continuous multi-use trail now in the life of the Goose. Until the linked the communities of Victo- Switch Bridge, the busy highway ria West and Saanich. Severely blocked flow along the Goose. When damaged in a fire in 1995, the the bridge opened in 1996, the Goose trestle was rebuilt, including a gained easy, uninterrupted access to hand-winched, counter-weight Victoria. driven draw bridge to allow boats with tall masts to navigate the Switch Bridge to Quadra Street — inner waters. The Lochside Regional Trail At the north end of the Switch Bridge, the trail forks. The right fork inlets. Though signs of a changing bends north-east and becomes the downtown Victoria dominate the first section of the new Lochside southern view, the immediate envi- Regional Trail extending 35 kilome- rons are mostly tranquil, with lush tres to the Ferry Terminal at Swartz poplars, willows and maples pushing Bay. Again, it quickly ducks under to the shoreline and softening the two major bridges: this time at urban landscape. Blanshard Street and Vernon Av- The trestle itself is five metres wide enue. — ample room for the hundreds of You’re now in the heart of Saanich, strollers and cyclists on a Sunday the CRD’s largest municipality with a afternoon outing. There’s even room population of 105,000. The Lochside for the occasional fisher casting over the railing for herring. hough the trestle is wide, the surface can get slippery after Twet weather. If you’re on wheels, check your speed and watch out for other trail users. You can access the bridge at either end: from the south, take Tyee Road to Arthur Currie Lane; from the north, drop down from Gorge Road East, a block west of Jutland Road. From the bridge, in rapid succession, the trail scurries under the Gorge Road East bridge and the Burnside Road East bridge. A huge mural brightens up one of the massive, cast Trail skirts around the southern concrete bridges. The Goose emerges perimeter of Swan Lake Christmas into the warehouse and light indus- Hill Nature Sanctuary — a great try district just west of Douglas opportunity for a side trip (sorry, no Street. It’s stop-and-go here. The bicycles) if you’re on foot. The ver- trail crosses six urban roads in a dant willows and hints of marsh (page 2) wildlife beckon the asphalt traveler to explore further. A lake for all seasons With Swan Lake to the north, the The Swan Lake Christmas Hill Lochside crosses over the Brett Av- Nature Sanctuary is worth a trip enue Trestle and 500 metres beyond, on its own. The 58 hectare sanc- the Swan Lake Trestle, both rem- tuary protects the marshy low- nants of the former Canadian North- lands around Swan Lake and the ern Pacific Railway (and later the high, rocky Garry oak outcrops of CNR) line that ran through Saanich nearby Christmas Hill. You can from 1917 to 1990. spend an easy half day here strolling along trails (including a Switch Bridge to Atkins Avenue floating boardwalk) and watching Back at the Switch Bridge, the left elusive birds, muskrat, river otter fork heads west towards the Western and mink. The Nature House fills Communities and points beyond. out the trip with exhibits and a Recent completion of the Interurban reading room. The Sanctuary also Road bridge, the Wilkinson Road offers guided events for groups. bridge, and the Helmcken underpass Phone (250) 479-0211 for more has made life easier for anyone com- information. muting to work and cycling to and from the Western Communities. Travel is straight and no-nonsense. Atkins Avenue to Metchosin The Trans-Canada Highway is a Just west of the Atkins Avenue park- constant companion to the south for ing lot, the Goose crosses Six Mile the next five kilometres. To the Road. For those with more time to north, Scotch broom and the explore, visit nearby Thetis Lake backyards of suburban Saanich com- Regional Park, a popular 635 hectare plete the vistas and hurry the com- park with a variety of activities from muting cyclist along. swimming at a beach to nature study Closer to View Royal you’ll catch a in a Douglas fir forest. Take the side glimpse of Portage Inlet to the south, path down to Six Mile Road, turn glass-like on a quiet day, the termi- right (north) and follow Six Mile for nus of a saltwater inlet that began about a kilometre to the main gate. If way back in Victoria Harbour. This you’re cycling, some of the Thetis section of the trail dips and winds its Lake trails are accessible to moun- way into View Royal. tain bikes. Bicycle racks are avail- able. At last, the Atkins Avenue parking lot. Shortly beyond here, say goodbye or the next seven kilometres to the paved, asphalt Goose; hello to the Goose rides over top of the compacted, former rail-bed and Fthe Colwood Delta — an im- with it a subtle change in the Goose’s mense pile of gravel, up to 100 me- character. The trail sheds its urban tres thick, underlying much of backyard-and-sidestreet clothes and Langford and Colwood. It was built goes rural and rough. Well, rough nearly 13,000 years ago by streams enough for most of us. It’s still a nice flowing to the sea from glacial ice family journey. You just have to pay west of Langford Lake. You can’t see attention to bumps in the track, the the delta as such (it’s under foot) odd overhanging branch, and the but you can see some of the left over occasional mud puddle. meltwater channels and ponds. Road crossings interrupt the flow of the Goose all the way to the Luxton (page 3) Langford Lake page 4 page 5 SAANICH Glen METCHOSIN Lake Sooke Road SOOKE VICTORIA P Jacklin Road 18 19 17 Luxton Fairgrounds Cont'd on next page 20 21 Happy Valley Road 22 METCHOSIN Lindholm Road Kangaroo Road 23 Metchosin Road Metchosin Road 24 Cont'd on page 9 Metchosin WITTY'S LAGOON School REGIONAL PARK ALBERT HEAD 25 REGIONAL 30 Taylor PARK Rocky Point Road William Head Road P 26 Lombard 29 Parry Bay 27 28 DEVONIAN REGIONAL PARK Pedder Bay Regional Trail (Eas Fairgrounds. The Goose crosses The working landscape of Colwood Atkins Avenue (three times), Sooke and Langford is partially shielded by Road (three times), Jacklin Road fern-laden rocky outcrops, pasture and a few other smaller roads. Sooke land, and low-lying wetlands. It’s a and Jacklin are busy, major roads. delightful surprise to enter a shady Exercise caution when crossing. Use former railway cutbank on a hot the cross walks and if you’re cycling, summer day and imagine the rickety dismount before crossing. Galloping Goose gas car (circa 1930) lurching along the old rail line. (page 4) Munns Rd FRANCIS/ KING REGIONAL PARK THETIS Prospect Lake Road LAKE REGIONAL PARK Trans Canada Highway MILL HILL LANGFORD REGIONAL PARK VIEW ROYAL 11 P 10 Victoria General Atkins Road Road Interurban Goldstream Avenue Hospital Cont'd on Trans Canada 9Highway Aldeane Avenue 12 Burnside prev page Six Mile Road 8 16 Old Island 15 13 Road Quadra Street Sooke Road P 7 West Ocean Blvd Portage Highway Inlet 14 Patricia Bay Highway (17) COLWOOD Carey Road McKenzie Avenue Cottonwood Cr.Rd. Esquimalt Admirals Road 6 Royal Roads Harbour Swan Lake University Nature Sanctuary 5 LOCHSIDE REGIONAL Esquimalt Tillicum TRAIL Lagoon Road Burnside Road East Swan 4 Lake Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse Nat'l Historic Sites Gorge Blanshard Street Blanshard Road 3 Selkirk Esquimalt Road Trestle 2 Street Douglas ESQUIMALT 1 Johnson Street Bay Street Bridge Inner Harbour Pandora Street VICTORIA STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA 0 1km Legend: Galloping Goose Regional Trail 41 Distance (km) from Johnson St.