Galloping Goose Trail

This trail is 55 km in length starting in Sidney, continuing through downtown Victoria, ending in  Sooke. You can access many places along the trail and some of them have free parking. Areas closer to downtown will be busier than those further out of town. Starting close to the Selkirk Tresel will leave a great impression.

Trail Highlights:

• Selkirk Trestle (Impressive bridge, the ocean inlet coming into the harbour)
• Thetis Lake (great for swimming, hiking, picnics)
• Sooke Potholes (great for swimming)
• Views of Sooke, Ocean
• Sooke River (see salmon during late August to October)

History

Part of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail follows the path of an old railway line that used to run from Victoria to the Gold Rush Leechtown (now a ghost town). The first run was in 1922 and car #15813 is the source of its name.  Leechtown was bigger than Victoria, but after the Gold rush ended the towns people left and the train shut down from lack of customers. The forest has now grown over most of Leechtown making it a ghost town worth exploring!

The Galloping Goose Trail is now part of the BC Trans Canada trail system.