East Sooke Park (Full coast)

Map

Sooke: 92B/5

10.8 km point to point.

Terrain: Rough

Approximate Elevations (in meters)
Start:	30	End:	10
Minimum:	0	Maximum:	50
Net Gain:	50	Cumulative Gain:	280

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Trailheads

Transportation is required at both ends.

Pike Road Trailhead: (57 km from Saanich Hall). Take the Trans Canada Highway (CA#1) west from Victoria, take the Langford exit (exit 14 - 8.8km) and take the Veteran's Memorial Parkway (highway 14) south to Sooke Road (4.2km)). Follow Sooke Rd to Gillespie Rd (12.2km). Turn left on Gillespie and follow it to the T junction with East Sooke Rd (5.6km). Turn right and follow East Sooke Rd for 7.9km to Pike Rd. The trailhead is at the end of Pike Rd.

Facilities available at the trailhead include:

Toilets and/or outhouses

Alyard Farm Trailhead: (37 km from Saanich Hall). Take the Trans Canada Highway (CA#1) west from Victoria, take the Langford exit (exit 14 - 8.8km) and take the Veteran's Memorial Parkway (highway 14) south to Sooke Road (4.2km)). Turn right and continue to Gillespie Rd (12.2km). Follow this south 5.6km to East Sooke Rd, turn left and drive about 2km to Becher Bay Road. Turn right and folow the road to the Aylard Farm parking lot.

Facilities available at the trailhead include:

Picnic tables
Toilets and/or outhouses

Uses

Dayhike

3 boot (moderate).

5.5 hours one way.

Suitable all year.

Description

This trail can be done in either direction, starting from Alyard Farm will involve hiking west along the coast while starting from Pike Road the hiker will travel from west to east. Sun and wind should be taken into consideration when selecting the direction to hike. It is strongly advised to do a car shuttle between the trailheads (allow 30 minutes plus). If only one vehicle is available a bicycle can be locked at one of the trailheads.

When hiking the trail west to east (from Pike Road to Alyard Farm) there is a section with poor marking. It occurs as you're descending from the bluffs above Cabin Point. Look carefully on your right hand side for the trail, beginning in an open, rocky area. It descends into the gully separating you from Cabin Point but many people have continued straight at this point creating a much more distinct route. If you come to a point where the trail starts to peter out or you notice that you haven't seen a trail marker in awhile retrace your steps to the last marker and look down and to the right. The trail marker is easily seen coming from the other direction, but not immediately visible heading towards Cabin Point.

Approximate timings:
- Alyard Farm to Beechy Head: 1:15
- Beechy Head to Beach Access 1:00

Features

This trail features beaches, birds (Bald eagle, Red tailed hawk, Turkey vulture), flowers (Blue camas, Calypso orchid, Death camas, Ground cone, Red columbine, Tall bluebell and White fawn lily), forests (Arbutus, Douglas fir and Western red cedar), fruits (Wild strawberry), historical artifacts (Petroglyphs at Beachy Head), marine mammals (Orca), meadows and views.

Hazards

Route-finding skills are required
some scrambling is required

Trail-conditions

View trail condition reports for this trail.