Beckwith Park

Walk-to score: 19

Transit to score: 37

Dogs permitted: off leash

Upper trails are wheelchair accessible

Beckwith Park is tucked in off the south end of Quadra Street, in what used to be some of Greater Victoria's prime agricultural land.  The park itself is a well equipped neighbourhood park, smack in the midst of residences that have sprung up as farmland was sold and rezoned.  It boasts one of Saanich's few waterparks during the summer, a newer playground equipped with a good variety of play structures, and has 2 tennis courts, washrooms open year-round and open soccer fields.

The pathways around the playground and fields are paved and smooth, and the trails surrounding the pond are smooth and mostly level for wheelchair accessibility.  Towards the eastern side of  the park, however, the trails become a little less level, and rougher.

Dogs are permitted off-leash everywhere except the playground area.  On any given weekend, there are groups of dogs romping around in the open fields, and dogs accompanying their owners on jaunts around the trail.  If your pooches are prey-driven (like our shiba inus are!) you may want to keep them on-leash in the area around the duckpond.

Beyond the standard neighbourhood park setup, there is a network of trails that lead around a pond, and into the Garry Oak meadow.  At the eastern side of the park, you can continue your walk along a designated bike route on residential streets that ultimately leads to Lochside Trail, and out to Blenkinsop Lake.  At the present time, it is not possible to do a loop around Blenkinsop Lake, so you will have to double-back in order to get back to Beckwith park.

History

This area was home to the farms of a number of Saanich pioneers at the turn of the century, and what is currently Lochside trail was actually a CNPR railway line out to Patricia Bay with a railway trestle crossing over Blenkinsop Lake. At that time the North Quadra area was occupied mainly by dairy farms - the Rogers Farm to the west side of Quadra, and the (current) Beckwith farm on the eastern side between Beckwith Avenue and Lochside trail.   Beckwith farm continues to be farmed today, dedicated mainly to blueberries.

Beckwith Park is named after J.L Beckwith, a Victoria city councillor and Mayor for a term in 1912. He is remembered not only for his years of public service, but also for saving Craigdarroch Castle from being torn down, and for establishing Victoria College in 1921. Strangely enough, J.L. lived on Fernwood road, not in the North Quadra area. I think further research is in order to determine what further connections exist.

Flora and fauna

Beckwith park itself is largely Garry Oak meadow, with an understory of grassy wildflower meadow. A springtime walk revealed not only the native Erythronium sp. (Easter lilies), chocolate lilies (Fritillaria) and a smattering of Camassia quamash.

 

Around the pond, and closer to Blenkinsop lake, the Garry oak trees give way to species that like wetter conditions - cottonwoods and alder, with elderberries closer to the edges.  As you walk along Lochside trail towards the lake, you will also encounter salmonberries and on a spring day, smell the skunk cabbage.

This park is a great birdwatching spot.  There are a variety of habitats within a short distance, and nesting boxes have been set up in strategic spots throughout the park. You will likely hear a number of different songbirds, hear and see Stellars Jays, see ducks in the pond, and perhaps even spy a turtle or two basking on a log in the lower part of the pond.

Connected greenspaces

In late 2013, the municipality of Saanich acquired just over 31 acres of farmland that borders Beckwith Park and surrounds Blenkinsop Lake.  This new parkland allows for a buffer between the active agricultural land and the Beckwith stream/Blenkisop Lake watershed, which connects to Swan Lake and Colquitz Creek.

Future plans for this new acquisition include creating trails that will connect Beckwith Park and Lochside trail to Valewood Park, on the south side of Broadmead.

Links:

Saanich parks info on Beckwith Park
Saanich acquires 31.4 acres of Blenksinsop land, Victoria News, Sept 27, 2013
Victoria heritage register, 1423 Fernwood Road.

All images © 2015 Janice Mansfield

Boulderwood Hill Park

Walk score: 51

Transit score: 51

Street parking: Deventer Drive, Boulderwood Rise, Cherry Tree Bend

Dogs permitted off-leash, MUST be on-leash through the Royal Oak Burial Park

Boulderwood Hill park is on the west side of McMinn and Grant Parks, all of which are connected via wooded trails through the Broadmead/Cordova Bay neighbourhood, and allow for a longer hike, and some spectacular vantages of the peninsula and city without having to go too far from town.  Its another great example of the ways in which the municipality of Saanich (Parks and Recreation) has been working to create connected greenspaces that promote walking within neighbourhoods.

Boulderwood Hill itself sits at the top of Amblewood Drive in Broadmead, and at its peak, looks out over the Royal Oak Burial Park, but there is also a  larger network of trails and parkland through the hill below, and surrounding the entire acreage of the Burial Park, with a wide range of forest streams, ponds, and up to rocky cliffs and garry oak meadows.

History

The Broadmead and Royal Oak neighbourhoods actually have a fairly long history in Victoria, despite being considered wild and inhospitable lands at the time.  The lands comprising much of North and South Saanich, were acquired by the Husdon's Bay Company in 1852 via a treaty between the Songhees Indians and Sir James Douglas. Seven years later, 899 acres, most of present-day Royal Oak and Broadmead was deeded to to Alexander Grant Dallas, subdivided only when the Pat Bay Highway was constructed, as it needed to pass directly through.  The larger portion on the east side, about 719 acres of what is currently Broadmead and Rithet's Bog was maintained by Alexander Dallas as "Dallas Farm", until his death in 1891, at which time R.P Rithet purchased the property.

About the same time as the larger acreage was deeded to Dallas, John Heal, one of the original settlers in the area, purchased 135 acres in the area and built a family home at 813 Royal Woods Place (interesting fact - this home also served as a post office in its early days). On his death, the land was divided up and passed to his sons Walter and Harry, and and a portion of this original parcel eventually became the current day burial park.

Walking the trails:

There area few trail loops that can be hiked easily within one to two hours within the larger park. Unfortunately, none of these trails are wheelchair accessible, and some have some quite steep and rocky terrain in spots.

If you are looking for vantages of the city and peninsula, you can go right to the top of Boulderwood Rise, and hike a loop that skirts the top of the hill.  There is a condominium complex right in the middle of the summit, with a wide buffer of parkland and trails on all sides.  There are clear, uninterrupted views out over Cordova Bay and Mount Doug on the east side of the hill, and on the west side, you have a bird's eye view of the cemetery and West Saanich.

Alternately, you can start at the bottom of the hill, from the trailhead at Deventer Drive.  This takes you through the lower forested areas, and up the hill skirting the backside of the sidestreets off Amblewood Drive.  If you follow the trails around towards the west, you will connect up with the trails that make their way into the Royal Oak Burial Park.

You can also make a full loop of the burial park, by starting at the end of Cherry Tree Bend, off Haliburton Road. There is a trail that heads due east, following the northern end of the parkland, where you will see glimpses of the backside of properties off the sidestreets off Haliburton Road, eventually connecting up with Boulderwood Hill park proper at the eastern edge of the park.  If you follow the trails around, to the south, you will find yourself heading back down the hill, through the woods to Deventer Drive, Royal Woods Place, and Falaise Road - some of your hike back will be on paved roads with sidewalk, but at the end of Falaise Drive, another trail picks up for a quieter stroll past the mausoleum and back to Cherry Tree Bend where you started.

On our last visit there, we found THIS curious tiny structure - shrine, memorial? or fairy hut? we're not sure, but it certainly had us stop and take notice.

Flora and Fauna

You will encounter a range of habitats while hiking these trails.  At the lower elevations, there are streams and wetlands filled with skunk cabbage, ferns and fast growing trees such as alder and poplar.  In the fall, you may even see patches of wild mushrooms!

Maples, hemlock, fir and cedar are abundant through the forested areas with their typical understory of salal, sword ferns and oregon grape.  These forests gradually transition to arbutus and garry oak meadows at the higher elevations.  Some areas are overgrown with ivy, but it appears they are slowing being rehabilitated, and spring wildflowers such as fawn lilies, shooting stars, and trilliums can be seen not far off the main trails.

  

You will also see and hear a wide variety of birds on your hike - on our visits we've encountered flickers and pileated woodpeckers, ravens, and even owls!  You will also see and hear many smaller birds such as nuthatches, finches, and wrens.

As with much of suburban Greater Victoria, this park also shelters semi-wild animals such as deer and racoons, which you may hear, but not see in the denser underbrush.  If you are hiking with your dogs, while they are permitted off-leash on the trails, if they are prone to wandering and getting into trouble, you may want to keep them on-leash to avoid any nasty altercations.

Links: 

Saanich Parks info on Boulderwood Hill Park\
The history of a Pioneer Family: the Heals of Royal Oak
Goyette Family History (compiled by Rene Carroll, 1999)
An Eclectic History of Broadmead, Valerie Green for the BARA Bugle, 2006
"Broadmead was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company", except from the Broadmead Story, BARA, 2010

All images © 2014 Janice Mansfield

Horth Hill

Walk score: 8

Parking lot on Tatlow Road

Dogs permitted off-leash

Horses permitted. no bicycles

Just a smidge west off the Pat Bay highway before you reach the ferry, you'll find Horth Hill park.   Tucked close to the border of Sidney and North Saanich just off Wain Road, this 36 hectare park provides a variety of walking and horseback riding trails through the woods up to the summit, and some spectacular wildflower displays in spring. There are pit toilets located near the parking lot.

History:

Horth Hill park is named after the Horth brothers - early pioneers who arrived from England and settle in North Saanich in the mid-late 1800's.  The family was active in local politics, and the family home of Rufus and Alice Horth (nee Wain) which was built in 1912, can still be seen at the corner of Deep Cove and Downey Roads.

This park was established in 1966 and is maintained today by the CRD.

Hiking trails:

Horth Hill has several clearly marked trail loops - the Ridge trail leads up to the summit with a view of the Saanich peninsula, Gulf islands and the San Juan islands. Trail difficulty is moderate, but the loop up to the summit and back can be easily done in under one hour, even if you are making stops along the way to birdwatch or take a closer look at the flora.

The lower levels of the hill are more densely wooded with Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock, and the typical Vancouver Island understory of sword ferns, salal and oregon grape.  The upper elevations open up onto rocky outcroppings with wildflower patches, Arbutus and Garry Oak meadow.  Several portions of the park are currently undergoing restoration allow the native wildflowers to reestablish themselves.  (These are clearly marked as no-go areas).

This park is also a prime birdwatching spot.  On our visit on a cool February day, we saw flickers and woodpeckers, and saw and heard many different songbirds.  We also saw a number of turkey vultures and an eagle circling overhead.  With the lower levels being more of a wetlands environment, you may catch a chorus of frogsong at the start and end of your journey.

Horth Hill park is technically an off-leash park although dogs must be under control at all times, and restricted to the trails.  Horseback riding is permitted on designated trails. Bicycles are not permitted on the trails, so if you cycle out here, you will need to leave your bike locked in the parking lot.


Links:
North Saanich Guide to Parks, trails and Beach Accesses
CRD information about Horth Hill

All images © 2015 Janice Mansfield