emailFeature Hike
Roche Cove Regional Park
Cedar Grove Hike
Trail Rating: Moderate
Approximate Hiking Time: 2 hours
Highlights
This hike will take you through classic temperate rainforest, with lush vegetation, old-growth cedar trees and moss-covered big leaf maples. Enjoy spectacular views of Roche Cove and look for huge banana slugs!
The Hike
Begin your hike in the Roche Cove parking lot. The trailhead for the Cedar Grove Trail is on the north side of the parking lot, well before the pit toilets and picnic tables.
Follow the trail along dry, rocky outcrops and up a moderate incline into lush temperate rainforest. Continue on the well-established trail down through large big-leaf maples. Make sure to look up into the canopy, where the limbs of these giants support a microcosm of licorice ferns, mosses and lichens.
Once you start heading uphill again, the viewpoint sign may tempt you to follow a short trail to the right. The end of this trail is a peaceful place to stop and have lunch, although trees now obscure the view. Keep heading north and at the first fork in the trail, go right (left will take you to Gillespie Road). In approximately 15 minutes you will encounter a huge fallen cedar, one of several cedars in this grove that are well over 500 years old.
Continue past the Cedar Grove and you will find the trail less traveled. An alder forest on your left is an excellent birding spot in the fall and spring. Keep following the trail until you start to descend and you will come out onto the Galloping Goose Regional Trail. To return to the Roche Cove parking lot, follow the Galloping Goose Trail to the right. Take the time to look at the road-cuts that made this abandoned rail line possible. You will find patches of stonecrop, a native succulent that blooms in late spring/early summer.
If you have a few extra minutes and are craving more forest, turn right at the To Viewpoint sign. This trail will take you up through the forest and eventually loops back onto "the Goose." This scenic route takes only an extra 10 minutes. Before you reach the parking lot, turn to your left to enjoy the stunning view of Roche Cove.
Option
For a gentler ramble, you can follow the wide, level expanse of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, which travels 55 kilometres from Victoria to Sooke. The Roche Cove parking area is an excellent starting point for a day trip in either direction -- by foot, horse or bicycle.
Hiking with your dog?
To help us protect these natural areas, please keep your dog under control and on the trail.
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