Highway 14 runs west from Victoria to Port
Renfrew and is lined with numerous beaches and provincial
parks, most - especially those close to the city - heavily
populated during the summer months. The 107km route is covered in
summer by West Coast Trail Express
, a private bus service intended for hikers walking the West Coast
Trail and Juan de Fuca Trail
, but also popular for the ride alone. Victoria city buses go as
far as SOOKE (38km; take #50 to Western Exchange and
transfer to a #61), best known for its All Sooke Day in
mid-July, when lumberjacks from all over the island compete in
various tests of forestry expertise. The infocentre lies
across the Sooke River Bridge at 2070 Phillips and Sooke streets
(daily 10am-6pm; tel 642-6351, www.sookemuseum.bc.ca ). This
is the last place of any size, so stock up on supplies if you're
continuing west. It also has a surfeit of accommodation ,
with a bias towards B&B, if you're caught short. Check out the
small Sooke Region Museum , (daily: July-Aug 9am-6pm;
Sept-June 9am-5pm; donation) in the same place if you want to bone
up on the largely logging-dominated local history. Quite a few
people make the trip here just for the food at Sooke
Harbour House , 1528 Whiffen Spit (tel 642-3421; $240 and up),
one of the finest restaurants on the West Coast; it's expensive,
but has a surprisingly casual atmosphere. It also has a few
top-notch rooms , but prices range from a prohibitive $270
to $465.
Beaches beyond Sooke are largely grey pebble and driftwood, the
first key stop being French Beach Provincial Park , 20km
onwards from Sooke. An info-board here fills in the natural-history
background, and there are maps of trails and the highlights on the
road further west. There's good walking on the fairly wild and
windswept beach, and a provincial park campsite (summer $12, winter
$8) on the grass immediately away from the shore. Sandy, signposted
trails lead off the road to beaches over the next 12km to Jordan
River , a one-shop, one-hamburger-stall town known for its good
surf. Just beyond is the best of the beaches on this coast, part of
China Beach Provincial Park (no camping) reached after a
fifteen-minute walk from the road through rainforest. The West
Coast Trail Express shuttle bus
makes stops at all these parks and beaches on request.
The road is gravel from here on - past Mystic and Sombrio
beaches to PORT RENFREW , a logging community that's gained
from being the western starting point of the West Coast
Trail
. A second trail, the Juan de Fuca Trail , also starts from
Port Renfrew, running east towards Victoria for about 50km. This
does not have the complicated booking procedure of the West Coast
Trail, but the scenery is also less striking and the going far
easier for the less experienced or more safety conscious walker.
Car parks and highway access points are also dotted along its
length, allowing you to enjoy strolls or day-hikes.
Accommodation in town is still pretty limited: try the
four cottages at Gallaugher's West Coast Fish Camp off Beach
Road (tel 647-5535; $80-100; May-Oct); the five beachfront rooms of
the Arbutus Beach Lodge , 5 Queesto Drive (tel 647-5458,
arbutus@sookenet.com ; $60-80/$80-100); the West Coast
Trail Motel , Parkinson Road (tel 647-5565,
www.westcoasttrailmotel.com ; $60-80/$80-100); and the
Trailhead Resort on Parkinson Road (tel 647-5468,
www.trailhead-resort.com ; $60-80), which has four rooms and
nine tent pitches ($4 per person); and the 124-site Port Renfrew
RV Park and Marina on Gordon River Road (tel 647-5430; $12-14;
April-Oct), with a separate tenting area across the bridge on the
northern side of the village. South of the village on a logging
road (6km) is Botanical Beach , a sandstone shelf and
tidal-pool area that reveals a wealth of marine life at low
tide.
If you're driving and don't want to retrace your steps, think
about taking the gravel logging roads from the village on the north
side of the San Juan River to either Shawnigan Lake or the Cowichan
Valley. They're marked on most maps, but it's worth picking up the
detailed map of local roads put out by the Sooke Combined Fire
Organization (ask at the Victoria infocentre); heed all warnings
about logging trucks