Found myself the most wonderful park - miles and miles of trails just waiting to be explored!! I have been to Gowlland Tod Park twice now, and still feels like completely unchartered territory.
My first adventure is one I plan to take all future visitors to - it is just a short walk, maybe a couple of kilometers through the woods, to the Tod Inlet. There is the most picturesque yacht moored in the inlet amongst the fog. I mean seriously just look at it - its like out of a postcard or something.
Throughout the trail, I kept seeing signs of old houses having been here - old cement foundations with trees growing out of them, that type of thing. So I looked it up when I got home, and all it really tells me about it is that there has been a long history of people living in this area - as well, it used to be part of the property where the Vancouver Portland Cement Company was (happen to remember this from the Butchart Garden?? Also was part of the Cememnt Company).
The next time I went to the park, I explored from a different trailhead - McKenzie Bight. The first trail I picked led me downhill for about a km and a half - straight into the ocean!
My first adventure is one I plan to take all future visitors to - it is just a short walk, maybe a couple of kilometers through the woods, to the Tod Inlet. There is the most picturesque yacht moored in the inlet amongst the fog. I mean seriously just look at it - its like out of a postcard or something.
Throughout the trail, I kept seeing signs of old houses having been here - old cement foundations with trees growing out of them, that type of thing. So I looked it up when I got home, and all it really tells me about it is that there has been a long history of people living in this area - as well, it used to be part of the property where the Vancouver Portland Cement Company was (happen to remember this from the Butchart Garden?? Also was part of the Cememnt Company).
The next time I went to the park, I explored from a different trailhead - McKenzie Bight. The first trail I picked led me downhill for about a km and a half - straight into the ocean!
The river was so high, the trail was underwater, and not just a little bit where you can just wade through, but like three feet underwater. I didn't feel like going for a swim, so I turned around and headed back up the hill.... I was running today, so it wasn't a particularly happy moment. The next trail I took - The Timberman Trail, was much better - just nice rolling hills leading up to a view over the Saanich Inlet. At this point I was out of time and had to turn back, but I think there was at least 20km of trail past that point - until next time!
For more information and to have a look at the trail maps check out:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/gowlland_tod/
For more information and to have a look at the trail maps check out:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/gowlland_tod/
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