Trip 300 - September 5-6, 2023 (Tuesday-Wednesday)

Coast Trail Hike

East Sooke Regional Park

Near Victoria, BC

Page 3 of 4

Coast Trail Western End Location: At the end of Silver Spray Drive Road, about 47 km West of Victoria, BC.

Liked: Numerous fine views of the rugged coastline, many interesting arbutus trees, shade in the forest, no bugs, the ability to hike one way (with a car shuttle).

Of Note: The trail is popular (especially to Beech Head), occasional noise from passing boats, steep unbarricaded drop-offs here and there, uneven ground, rocks and roots, a few short steep stretches – hiking poles and boots are highly recommended.

Vancouver Island, Victoria & Gulf Islands Backroad Mapbook (9th edition) Coordinates: Page 4 (Sooke) C5-C6.

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East Sooke Regional Park is a very large regional park located on Vancouver Island, about 35 kilometers West of Victoria. There are numerous trails in the park, mostly going through the woods, but the most scenic aptly named Coast Trail runs along the coast of Salish Sea for over 10 kilometers. There are trailheads at both end of Coast Trail, thus making it possible to hike it one way with the help of a car shuttle. Doing a return trip of about 21 kilometers is possible as well, though the terrain, despite not being terribly complicated, is still challenging enough and is not very conducive to fast hiking, with several large moderately challenging hills.

A pleasant bonus was observing seals swimming along the coast at various parts of the trail. We even saw a seal enjoying a sun bath while chilling on a rock, but it heard us and took off before we could take a photo.

There is a Trap Shack close to the middle point of Coast Trail, so on September 5th we hiked West from Aylard Farm parking lot to the shack and back. The next day we hiked from the other end of the trail (off Silver Spray Drive) to the same spot and back, thus hiking the entire trail.

Please, note that there is a private real estate development in progress at the end of Silver Spray Drive, and access can be closed at any time. In this case, use Pike Road entrance, which would extend access to the western end of Coast Trail by about one kilometer one way.

The first two pages of this trip report are dedicated to the September 5th hike from Aylard Farm parking lot west to a Trap Shack and back (5.4 km one way), and the last two pages describe the hike east and back (5.22 km one way) which we had the following day. There are definitely more people heading west from Aylard Farm parking lot, and the trail would likely be quite busy during the main hiking season, so come off-season (elevation above sea level is minimal, and hiking should be possible for much of the year), or start from the western end and turn around at the Trap Shack to avoid the crowds.

* All trail distances are based on a GPS odometer and are approximate.

61. Page 3 and 4 of this trip report cover our hike from the western end of Coast Trail (off Silver Spray Drive) to the Trap Shack and back. Here is a Google Maps location of East Sooke Regional Park - Pike Road parking lot. This would be the best place to park to reach the western end of Coast Trail, as the route we took (from the end of Silver Spray Drive) goes through a private real estate development under construction, and might be blocked off at any time. From Pike Road lot take Pike Road Trail towards Iron Mine Bay Beach - Coast Trail starts in that general location and is easy to find.

62. But, in case you want to follow our exact route, here is a Google Maps location of Silver Spray Drive at Ocean Park Place, where we parked our vehicle and walked for several hundred meters through private property (appears to be open for public passage as of the time of this report) to reach a connector trail to Coast Trail.

63. Here we are at the end of Silver Spray Drive, with a parking lot on the right side.

Silvery Spray Drive Vancouver Island BC

64-65. Straight ahead is private property, and public access could be closed at any time. There are no signs of any kind around here indicating there is a trail or a regional park nearby.

Sookepoint residential development entrance gate

66. Go through the gate and make an immediate left turn.

67. Proceed straight ahead for several hundred meters.

68-69. Once a paved road ends about a hundred meters after the turn, keep right and walk on gravel road for another 150 meters.

70-71. Keep walking towards the forest straight ahead.

72. About 280 meters from the parking lot arrive to the start of Silver Spray Trail, a connector trail to Coast Trail.

Silver Spray Trail trailhead - East Sooke Regional Park

73. In the photo of a map of the western half of East Sooke Regional Park we have indicated as follows: white square (white arrow) - Pike Road parking lot. Red Square - the connector trail to the western end of Coast Trail. Blue arrows - Coast Trail.

Map of East Sooke Regional Park - western half

74. The cropped version of a map. We have indicated a follows: red arrows - where we came from (after parking at the end of Silver Spray Drive) to reach Silver Spray Trail, a connector trail to the western end of Coast Trail. Red square - a junction where going left would lead to Pike Road Trail in a few hundred meters, which you can then take to reach Coast Trail. White arrows - a path from the junction (indicated by red square) which leads to Iron Mine Bay, which is a shorter route (by about 500 meters) to Coast Trail. Blue square - the start of the western end of Coast Trail. Blue arrows - Coast Trail. If you park at the Pike Road lot, just take Pike Road Trail for about 1.5 km and you would get to Coast Trail.