Trip 309 - May 13, 2024 (Monday)
Mount Tolmie Park Visit
District of Saanich
near Victoria, BC
Liked: Fine views of Victoria, good views of distant hills and of Mount Douglass, Gary Oaks, colourful plants, free parking, much shade, no bugs, meeting a deer and several lizards, pleasant paths through the park.
Vancouver Island, Victoria & Gulf Islands Backroad Mapbook (9th edition) Trailhead Coordinates: Page 5 (Victoria) B3.
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Mount Tolmie Park is located on Mayfair Drive in the District of Saanich (by Victoria BC) close to University of Victoria and a community of Oak Bay. This park is located on both sides of Mayfair Drive and is 300-400 hundred meters long and wide. It has a very fine panoramic view of Victoria (with Mount Douglas visible in the distance) from the main parking lot and further down, and pleasant paths through vegetation with numerous Gary Oaks.
There is also some wildlife, as we met a deer and several lizards.
Parking is free. In addition to the main parking lot, there is an
overflow lot just below it (with parking for tour buses too, so you can
imagine the number of people that would bring), and a small lot further
down Mayfield Drive. 1.
Here is a Google Maps location of Mount Tolmie Park
by Victoria, BC.
Here is our video of
driving to Mount Tolmie Park.
2. And here is a photo of a map we fount in Mount
Tolmie Park, which shows the park and the surrounding area.
3-4. A defaced information stand by the lower parking
lot shows the map of Mount Tolmie Park itself.
5. Here is the main (upper)
parking lot, which is suitable for regular vehicles only. Parking is
free.
Here is our timelapse
video of the view from the main parking lot.
6. The lower parking lot
seen from the upper parking lot. The lower lot is where tour buses park,
and it can also accommodate larger vehicles that would be too big for
the upper lot. There is also a small overflow dirt lot along Mayfair
Drive further down (towards Cedar Hill Cross Road).
7. Here is the lower
parking lot for Mount Tolmie Park.
8-12. The main sightseeing
attraction of Mount Tolmie Park is a panoramic view of Victoria from the
main parking lot (you can also walk downhill towards the overflow lot
and beyond and see, more or less, the same view). Here it is left to
right followed by two panoramas. Mount Douglas can be observed in the
far background.
Here is our video of the views from the
main parking lot of Mount Tolmie Park.
13. Other than this view,
Mount Tolmie Park offers a fine walk through several paths lined by Gary
Oak trees. There are benches here and there.
14. Across Mayfair Drive
from the main parking lot, there is this rather strange large
rectangular concrete-surfaced fenced area.
15. Hard to tell what it is
for. Perhaps, some sort of events?
16. A lizard was hanging
out nearby. There were a few in Mount Tolmie Park.
Here is our video of the
lizards in Mount Tolmie Park.
17. Mount Douglas view from
the strange rectangular platform.
18-19. Time to walk in the
park. It's quite a neat, if not very large, place.
20. Fine colourful plants.
21-22. Gary Oaks everywhere.
23-24. Back on Mayfair
Drive, with a small overflow parking lot on the right side.
25. You get an occasional
feel of a semi-arid environment, despite Victoria area being much more
lush than this.
26-27. We also found a deer hanging out in Mount
Tolmie Park.
Here is our video of the
deer in Mount Tolmie Park.
More ihikebc videos are on
our YouTube Channel.
28. Another park path.
29. And another fine
natural view.
Mount Tolmie Park in the District of Saanich by
Victoria BC has a lot to offer despite a rather small size. Highly
recommended.
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ihikebc.com Trip 309 - Mount Tolmie Park Visit (District of Saanich near Victoria, BC)