A Scenic Drive on the Malahat Highway

A recent trip had me driving along the Malahat Highway (map)  on the way to beautiful Bamberton Beach Provincial Park, on the Saanich Inlet north of Victoria.  This is one of the west coast’s most scenic highways and it’s worth a trip to the Island just to experience it.

The Highway is named after the Malahat First Nations.  It’s a rugged mountain road with forest and steep cliffs and viewpoints that provide stunning scenic vistas of Saanich Inlet, the Saanich Peninsula, Saltspring Island and the BC Gulf Island.  On clear days you have a view of distant Mount Baker and the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula in USA.

As you travel north from Victoria (map), the highway climbs over the mountainside.  Imposing forests of Douglas fir, arbutus, hemlock and western red cedar grow along the winding and steep route, 356 metres (1,156 feet) to Malahat Summit, ending just south of Mill Bay.

The area has great significance to the Malahat First Nation.  The aboriginal name for the mountain is Yaas, a legendary rainmaker.  Even today Malahat Mountain remains one of the most sacred sites on Vancouver Island.

The Highway is part of the Trans Canada Highway 1.  The route beings in Goldstream Provincial Park (map), just north of Langford.  There are many interesting stops along the way including Spectacle Lake and Shawnigan Lake. The Malahat Scenic Drive is just 30 minutes from Victoria to the top viewpoint where you can stop and view the Saanich Peninsula and the Gulf Islands from a large rock bluff.

Bamberton Beach Provincial Park

The Malahat is located on the west side of the Saanich Inlet (map), south of Duncan and 30 minutes north of Victoria.  There’s not really a town but there are some facilities along the way. At the communities of Mill Bay (map), Duncan (map) and the Cowichan Valley  you can find accommodations, dining and shops. Mill Bay is the departure point for the Brentwood Bay/Mill Bay BC Ferry service across Saanich Inlet to Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsula.

• Goldstream Provincial Park is especially busy during the November salmon spawning run.  There are picnic grounds, camp sites, nature walks and trails.  If you’re energetic, you can hike up Mount Finlayson, with an elevation of 1,375 feet/413 metres.
• Spectacle Lake Provincial Park has excellent swimming, canoeing, fishing and picnic areas.  It’s the only eastern brook trout fishing lake on Vancouver Island.  There’s an easy 2 km well-maintained hiking trail around the lake with wooden bridges crossing the creeks and marshy areas.
• Bamberton Lake Provincial Park Our Saturday drive took us to Bamberton Provincial Park (map) where there is a long stretch of sandy beach, picnic facilities and a campground for overnight stays.  We’ve been coming here for several years for family outings. It’s a perfect place to spend the day with your kids. The water is warm for swimming, it’s great for boating and there are some hiking trails.  The grassy picnic area on a terraced slopes above the beach, shaded by arbutus and fir trees. The kids had a great time exploring the little waterfall at the end of the creek that runs down to the beach.

Photo Credits: W. Ruth Kozak