A few came early, but most of us arrived on Sunday when it was convenient and not in a rush.  The eleven of us set up our campsites at Gordon Bay Provincial Park in a cluster near each other and the somewhat heated bathrooms.  A luxury that we don’t normally expect.  We gathered around Les’ campfire after dinner, but it was an early night.

Monday – It was quite cold overnight especially for those who were tenting.  Our first destination was a long drive, but a very short walk to the Kinsol Trestle.  It is one of the largest wooden bridges in the world at 187 meters long and 44 meters high.  Perhaps the most amazing thing is that it has been saved and restored.  We had lunch by the shore of the Koksilah River and then walked upstream to the second bridge before returning to the vehicles.

(click on the photos to view larger)

From there we drove up further along the Koksilah River.  After having some trouble finding the trailhead, we followed the Koksilah River Ancient Forest Trail from a logging road down into a second growth forest and continued down to the old trees and to the river, both of which were lovely.  By afternoon it was quite warm.

After dinner at the campground we gathered around Jim and Louise’s campfire before heading to bed.

Tuesday – We hiked up an excellent trail to Bing’s Creek falls, starting at the Raven’s Haven.  We soon passed through a grove of flowering dogwood trees.  As the trail became steeper the forest was open and mature along the creek.  We took the Lollipop Loop leading to the delicate falls and stopped for lunch by the creek on the way back down.

We next went to Stoney Hill Loop Trail, with another excellent trail.  We quickly arrived at bluffs overlooking Maple Bay with an ecosystem we don’t have on Quadra.  There were arbutus trees with some Garry oaks and an amazing array of spring flowers.  We saw shooting stars, Fairy Slipper orchid, chocolate lilies, small monkey flowers, sea blush, blue-eyed Marys, miner’s lettuce and fawn lilies.  On the bluffs, we had great views of Sansum Narrows and Salt Spring Island under a brooding sky.  As we neared the parking lot on our return, the brooding sky turned to light rain.

On the drive back to the campground the rain continued and the temperature fell, convincing us to go for a pub dinner at the Riverside Pub in Lake Cowicahan.  The food was good and plentiful.

Wednesday: A few in the group departed but the rest hiked the Skutz Falls Loop from Mayo Road, counter-clockwise.  We crossed the bridge over the Cowichan River and hiked along the south shore, downstream.  The views and the variability in the river were wonderful.  Further along there were open sections of banks with excellent spring flowers.  The trail undulated between high bank and the river’s shoreline.  We re-crossed the river and Trestle 66 and stopped for lunch at the picnic area there before continuing upstream on the north shore.  The flowers continued to line the trail.

We sat around the fire at Jim and Louise’s several times and then began to get ready for our departure the next day.

Thursday – Everyone broke camp and headed out on Thursday morning, with six of us squeezing in another hike.  We started at the trailhead for Maple Mountain Southview Loop in a residential area, and then followed a newly gravelled BC Hydro road up to open bluffs under hydro lines.  We took a connector trail out to view bluffs with Garry Oaks and blue camas.  The views were great and the special ecosystem was unexpected to us.  We enjoyed the views of Maple Bay and Salt Spring Island before heading into a lovely, open forest.  We made a complicated loop before heading back to the vehicles and to home.

We really had exceptional variety on the six hikes we took in four days.  An historic railroad bridge, old growth trees, a creek with falls, two beautiful bluff walks and a river loop, were some of the highlights we found in the Cowichan Valley.  The spring flowers were a special treat.

Debbie

Thanks to Louise and Norris for the photos

Multi-day Hiking – Cowichan Valley – 19-23 April 2026

It didn’t go exactly as planned, but this experiment in early season camping and hiking went well, none the less.  The official days were spared serious rain after postponing the event by one day.  Two campers came a day or two early, but most arrived on Wednesday.  Nine participated all together, on differing days.

Wednesday – We began with a visit to the Englishman River falls in the provincial park.  There was lots of water in the River and the trails were in good condition.  The sun poked out for us.  We started at the upper bridge where the broad river squeezes into the narrow crevasse gradually broadening out.  We took the trail down to the lower bridge to see this change and then hiked back up in a loop.  We took advantage of the covered picnic shelter for lunch.

(click on photos to view larger)

After lunch we headed toward Nanoose for a hike up Notch Hill.  This was a lovely walk through stands of arbutus and Garry Oak. As we climbed we had views of Nanoose Bay and the Vancouver Island mountains, though the clouds were down on the mountains.  We stopped at the Rusted Rake Brewery on the way back to the campsite.  After dinner we enjoyed Allan’s campfire.

Thursday – The weather forecast had improved by morning so we added Little Mountain to the itinerary, not knowing a great deal about it.  We started out on fairly predictable bike trails, which also welcomed hikers and horses.  As we went further, the forest was filled with impressive boulders.  After climbing to the shoulder of Little Mountain we followed a trail below the cliffs with fascinating sculpted rocks.  We made our way to the lookout next to the communication towers for the view toward the Vancouver Island mountains, which were still covered by clouds.

We next went to Little Qualicum Provincial Park to see those waterfalls.  We made a loop, heading upstream to the upper falls, crossing the river and walking downstream for the remaining views.  The trails and viewpoints are very well done and the waterfalls were impressive.  From there we returned to the vehicles and visited the Mount Arrowsmith Brewery on the way back to camp.  Allan once again had a great campfire.

Everyone explored Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park on their own.  The trail along the shore, the mature forest, the expansive beach at low tide, the views of the Salish Sea, and the brants were all very photogenic.

Friday – Everyone broke camp and headed out on Friday morning.  Most of us drove to Rosewall Creek Provincial Park and from there hiked up along the river to the falls.  This is a lovely walk through a mature rainforest with lots of moss and some very large trees.  The falls were very impressive.

We saw three great waterfalls, two view hikes to interesting geological and ecological areas, and one exceptional beach.  It was really quite cold in the morning and evening though and we were very lucky to avoid serious rain.

Debbie

Thanks to Les and Norris for the photos

Multi-day Hiking – Beaches and Waterfalls – 25-27 Mar 2026