emailEast Sooke Regional Park
West Coast wilderness awaits you at East Sooke Regional Park. Experience it as you hike along the windswept rocky coast, over dry hilltops, through dark rainforest to sheltered coves.
Features
- 50 kilometres of trails through forest, marsh and field
- Challenging 10 kilometre Coast Trail
- Pocket beaches, rocky bays and tide pools for exploring and scuba diving
- Spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Olympic Mountains
Trail Rating: Easy (Aylard Farm) to Challenging (Coast Trail)
Size: 1433.94 hectares
Location: East Sooke Road in East Sooke
Established: 1970
Hours: sunrise to sunset
)Things to Do
Begin your exploration at one of three entry points:
Aylard Farm is popular with picnickers, and those looking for easy excursions. A 5-minute walk through open fields leads to a pocket beach where you can discover intertidal life, or watch river otters scurrying across the sand. Trails head inland to hilltop views, or along the rugged Coast Trail.
Anderson Cove, on the Sooke Basin, is the starting point for hikers heading to Babbington Hill and Mount Maguire. On these hilltops, bald eagles, turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks join you for sweeping views of the Olympic Peninsula.
Pike Road is the most westerly access to the park, and to the Coast Trail. An old logging road winds through forest to meadow and beach. Here, at low tide, look for periwinkles, goose-neck barnacles and purple sea stars … but do not remove!
How to Get There
Aylard Farm Entrance
Follow the Trans-Canada Highway from Victoria, and take the Colwood
exit. Follow the Old Island Highway, which turns into Sooke Road. From
Sooke Road, turn left on Gillespie Road. Turn left on East Sooke Road,
then right on Becher Bay Road to reach the park entrance.
Anderson Cove Entrance
Follow the directions above to Gillespie Road. Turn right on East Sooke
Road to reach the park entrance on the left.
Pike Road Entrance
Follow the directions above to Gillespie Road. Turn right on East Sooke
Road and continue past Anderson Cove. Turn left on Pike Road to reach the park entrance.
Allow approximately 1 hour driving time from Victoria.
Public Transportation
Take BC Transit #64 East Sooke Loop Bus from 17 Mile House to East Sooke Road. There is a bus stop close to the entrance to Anderson Cove. Please note that BC Transit #64 runs Monday to Friday only, no weekend service. Contact BC Transit for schedule information.
