Sooke is a wonderful coastal town with amazingly deep and beautiful forests, lakes and rivers. The Sooke Potholes is an extraordinary example of this. Over thousands of years, swirling water have created amazingly deep pools in this otherwise, massive and crashing river. This has created an astonishing river-world fun park of sorts. Cliffs, fallen trees, rock outcrops over the river.
Stunning, deep poolAmazing for swimmingVery hidden feeling trailsVery dog friendlyAmazing place to picnicBeautiful cliffs to relax onFamily friendly & freeGalloping Goose runs past
Gets crazy busy on weekendsParking is often inadequate 
Avatar Grove Bear Hill 
East Sooke Park 
Elk/Beaver Lake Esquimalt Lagoon 
Fort Rodd Hill Francis/King Galloping Goose Goldstream Park Gowlland Tod Grass Lake John Dean Park Juan de Fuca Trail Lone Tree Hill Mill Hill Mount Douglas Mount Tolmie Sooke Potholes Spectacle Lake Thetis Lake Witty's Lagoon 
Victoria Attractions Easy Hiking Trails Moderate Trails Challenging Trails
The Big Tree Trail 
Hot Springs Cove Lone Cone Nuu Chah Nulth Radar Beach Radar Hill Vargas Island 
Virgin Falls Wild Pacific Trail
Nothing, including the river ever runs in anything close to a straight line. So many amazing vantage points, so many unbelievable swimming spots. If you are interested in venturing further, you can follow the potholes for quite a distance. About 3k in fact, as they snake through the river valley. As if the place couldn't get any more interesting, it does. There is a ruin (of sorts) of an unfinished convention centre, long abandoned, though magnificent in it size and complexity. It would have been quite a building, with its enormous fireplace and huge log beam construction. Now it remains as a curiosity, perched on the edge of a cliff, far above the Sooke Potholes.
Follow the Trans Canada Highway from downtown Victoria, take Exit 14 Millstream Road (to Sooke). Follow Veterans Memorial Parkway, turn right on Sooke Road, then when you reach Sooke, turn right on Sooke River road and this road ends in the trailhead parking lot. Short and longer trails take you along this beautiful river. Don't forget to stop at the turnoff back at the highway for snacks and food for this wonderful park.
Grass Lake (also Grasse Lake or Grassie Lake) is a moderately difficult trail to a beautifully remote lake far in the wilderness of Sooke. Popular for swimming and escaping the world. It is a beautiful and remote lake. There are a couple of lakeside clearings that are perfect for camping. South facing, and sunny all day. If you don't mind the tough hike in, you will be in paradise. From Victoria take Douglas Street and continue to the Trans Canada Highway, and follow the signs to Sooke. After 35k turn right on Sooke River Rd (follow the signs to Sooke Potholes). Park at the Sooke Potholes parking lot. From the Sooke Potholes parking lot you will see a riverbed on the right, just before the gates (to the potholes). Follow this riverbed until you reach the Galloping Goose Trail. Turn left and follow the Galloping Goose Trail for about 600 metres until you see a large trail on your right. This trail leads to Grass Lake. East Sooke Regional Park is a convenient and easily accessible way to experience the wild, west coast of Vancouver Island. Weather blasted rocky cliffs, sandy beaches and deep coastal forest trails run throughout the park. Every few minutes along the coast you come to another startlingly desolate ocean vantage point. Everything about East Sooke Park is just great and should not be missed on a trip to Victoria anytime of the year. The sheer size of this park and number of trails, over 50 kilometres of them. The Coastal Trail, almost 12 kilometres long, stretches out linearly in an array of pocket beaches, rocky viewpoints and fantastically alive tide pools. It hugs the cliff, ducks into the forest and back out to another stunning ocean viewpoint. Galloping Goose Regional Trail developed from a disused railway line begins at the Johnson Street bridge in downtown Victoria and goes in two directions. One direction goes to the Vancouver ferry terminal at Swartz Bay, 35 kilometres away. And the other 55 kilometres through the Western Communities, out past Sooke ending near the ghost town, Leechtown. The trail is paved for 13 kilometres, from Victoria to Colwood, then the trail is gravel and dirt paths. Most of the distance the ground is fairly smooth and rarely do you encounter even gradual hills as the route follows the old railway line. There are convenient kilometre markers all along the trail emanating from the Johnson Street starting point. The Juan de Fuca Trail is an incredible part of Vancouver Island. Wild and beautiful, and accessible. All along the 47km length there are convenient access points. It's wild, and beautiful, and varied, and deep in the wild rainforest of the coast. From the beautiful flowers of Victoria to the wild and majestic forest of the Juan de Fuca Trail, the drive just to get to it is beautiful. There are four main trailheads for the Juan de Fuca trail. From Victoria China Beach is 70km, Sombrio Beach 95km, Parkinson Creek 100km and Botanical Beach 110km. The trail can of course be hiked from either end or in parts. Starting at Botanical Beach and timing the tides correctly allows for a great way to start the trek as you can see the first five or so kilometres at the wonderful beach level. With the various access points to the Juan de Fuca Trail, you can do several day trips and never walk the same section twice. All the sections are quite distinct from the rest. Some trails are wild and overgrown, others are focussed on amazing tidal pools, and still other sections are centred around wide, sweeping beaches. You can even find good surfing at Sombrio Beach.
Avatar Grove Bear Hill East Sooke Park Elk/Beaver Lake Esquimalt Lagoon Fort Rodd Hill Francis/King Galloping Goose Goldstream Park Gowlland Tod Grass Lake John Dean Park Juan de Fuca Trail Lone Tree Hill Mill Hill Mount Douglas Mount Tolmie Sooke Potholes Spectacle Lake Thetis Lake Witty's Lagoon Victoria Attractions Easy Hiking Trails Moderate Trails Challenging Trails
The Big Tree Trail Hot Springs Cove Lone Cone Nuu Chah Nulth Radar Beach Radar Hill Vargas Island Virgin Falls Wild Pacific Trail
