Sooke Potholes Provincial Park

Last updated
Sooke Potholes Provincial Park
Potholes-SPPP.jpg
LocationCapital Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Nearest cityVictoria, British Columbia, Canada
Area7.28 ha
EstablishedSeptember 7, 1972

Sooke Potholes Provincial Park is a 7.28 hectare provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is adjacent to the Sooke River and Sooke Potholes Regional Park, near Victoria, B.C. Intended primarily to provide access to the Sooke River and the associated potholes, it also offers wildlife viewing and other day-use activities.

Contents

Environment

Sooke Potholes Provincial Park, in the Leeward Island Mountains Ecosection, is primarily focused around a set of naturally-occurring, water-carved potholes along the Sooke River. [1] Although the river is a popular swimming spot, it is also an important spawning river for chinook and coho salmon and is a main wildlife corridor between the Sooke Hills and Capital Region greenbelts. Sierra wood fern and streambank lupine, both threatened species, are important plant species that can be found in the park, as well as old-growth Douglas firs. Park animal species include the black bear, cougar and the Roosevelt elk. [2]

The abandoned Sooke Flowline aqueduct, constructed in 1915, snakes through the nearby hills around the Sooke Potholes and travels all the way to the Humpback Reservoir near Mt. Wells Regional Park. It runs north–south to the east of Sooke River.

Activities and services

The park is primarily designed to provide access to the potholes and the Sooke River for swimming, picnicking, fishing, and other recreational activities along the river. [1] Because the potholes are outside the park boundaries, the park is primarily designed to allow access through the park to the Sooke River, and does not have washrooms, trash bins, or other service facilities to allow anything other than day use. [2] There are multiple trails and two parking lots to allow easy access to the potholes and the river. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Victoria</span> Metropolitan area in British Columbia, Canada

Greater Victoria is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) on Vancouver Island as well as some adjacent areas and nearby islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooke</span> District municipality in British Columbia, Canada

Sooke is a district municipality on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, 38 kilometres (24 mi) by road from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Sooke, the westernmost of Greater Victoria's Western Communities, is to the north and west of the Sooke Basin. It is a regional centre for residents in neighbouring communities, including Otter Point, Shirley and Jordan River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langford, British Columbia</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

Langford is a city on southern Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Langford is one of the 13 component municipalities of Greater Victoria and is within the Capital Regional District. Langford was incorporated in 1992 and has a population of over 40,000 people. Its municipal neighbours are Colwood to the southeast, Highlands to the north, Metchosin to the southwest, and View Royal to the northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloping Goose Regional Trail</span> Rail trail in British Columbia, Canada

The Galloping Goose Regional Trail is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) rail trail between Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and the ghost town of Leechtown, north of Sooke, where it meets the old Sooke Flowline. Maintained by the Capital Regional District (CRD), the trail forms part of the Trans-Canada Trail, and intersects the Lochside Regional Trail. The section from Harbour Road in Esquimalt to the Veterans Memorial Parkway in Langford is also part of the Vancouver Island Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan de Fuca Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is a provincial park located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established on April 4, 1996 by combining three former parks - China Beach, Loss Creek, and Botanical Beach - into one provincial park. It is the location of the majority of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, which is a southern compliment to the West Coast Trail within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

Pink Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooke Mountain Provincial Park</span> Provincial park on Vancouver Island, Canada

Sooke Mountain Provincial Park is a Class B provincial park located at the southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established on June 25, 1928, to protect local wildlife and preserve the scenic wilderness of the area. Sooke Mountain is now part of the larger Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt surrounding Greater Victoria.

Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is located in the northern portion of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 698, 659 hectares and encompasses the Spatsizi River and Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve. The park is a designated protected area that is intended for the conservation and research on caribou, grizzly bears, fish, and other wildlife species populations. Before the provincial park's establishment in 1975, the area was a historical hunting ground for local Indigenous communities like the Tahltan First Nations.It is the second largest provincial park in British Columbia.

Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park is a provincial park covering parts of the eastern Kitimat Ranges, northern Pacific Ranges, and the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on May 21, 1938 in the western interior of the province, to protect its important natural features. The park hosts a variety of recreation activities for visitors. This park encompasses a range of diverse species in this park including bears, moose, and various fish. There are also a few at risk species in this park.

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is a non-profit environmental education organization that aims to protect Canada's wild spaces and species. Paul George, along with Richard Krieger, were the founding directors, and formed the Wilderness Committee in the province of British Columbia in 1980. It now has a membership of over 30,000 people with its head office in Vancouver and field offices in Victoria, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Toronto, Ontario.

Sooke Potholes Regional Park is a 63.5-hectare (157-acre) nature park along the Sooke River, near Sooke, British Columbia. It is known for its rocky pools and canyon-like features and is a popular destination for hiking and swimming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park</span> Park in Saanich, British Columbia

The Elk/Beaver Regional Park is a 1,072-acre (434 ha) park in Saanich, British Columbia, containing Elk Lake and Beaver Lake.

Leechtown is at the confluence of the Leech River into the Sooke River in southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The ghost town, off BC Highway 1 is about 59 kilometres (37 mi) by road northwest of Victoria.

The Goldstream River is a river northwest of Victoria on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The river's name derives from a small gold rush in its basin during the 1860s, and was originally Gold Stream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanaka Creek Regional Park</span> Regional park in British Columbia

Kanaka Creek Regional Park is a regional park of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, located in the city of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, flanking both sides of Kanaka Creek from its confluence with the Fraser River just east of Haney and extending approximately 11 km up the creek to just south of the community of Webster's Corners. The Maple Ridge Fairgrounds are just east of the lower regions of the park, beyond them is the community of Albion. Derby Reach Regional Park is just across the Fraser in Langley.

Happy Valley is an unincorporated settlement in the Western Communities area of Greater Victoria on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Happy Valley, which is located south of Glen Lake and west of Triangular Hill, had its own post office from 1896 to 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooke Flowline</span> Aqueduct in British Columbia, Canada

The Sooke Flowline is an abandoned 44-kilometre (27 mi) concrete aqueduct that snakes through the Sooke Hills from Sooke Lake to the Humpback Reservoir, near Mount Wells Regional Park, in British Columbia, Canada. From this reservoir, a buried, riveted steel pressure main transported water to Victoria. Between 1994 and 2007, this main was replaced, since it was long past its useful life. The flowline was vital to the continued growth of the city of Victoria, as it provided a reliable water supply. While the flowline remains, Victoria's water supply is now carried via Kapoor Tunnel. Leigh Hodgetts, CRD Waterworks superintendent, reported that the westernmost section of the flowline is still used to carry Sooke's water supply, via a 16-inch interconnecting pipe feeding the Sooke distribution system from Charters Creek to Sooke River Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Seymour Provincial Park</span> Canadian provincial park

Mount Seymour Provincial Park is a park in Vancouver, British Columbia's North Shore Mountains. With an area of 35 square kilometres, it is located approximately 15 kilometres north of Downtown Vancouver. The park, named after Frederick Seymour, was established in 1936. Mount Seymour Provincial Park provides visitors with a variety of recreational activities and animals with natural habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt</span> Greenbelt surrounding the Greater Victoria metropolitan area in Canada

The Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt is a 62 kilometre long greenbelt surrounding the Greater Victoria metropolitan area in Canada. The greenbelt includes green space, forests, farms, and wetlands stretching from Sooke to Salt Spring Island. It also includes the "blue spaces" of Sooke Basin and Saanich Inlet.

References

  1. 1 2 BC Parks (March 2003). "Sooke Potholes Provincial Park: purpose statement and zoning plan" (PDF). Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  2. 1 2 BC Parks. "Sooke Potholes Provincial park" . Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  3. "Sooke Potholes Provincial Park". Victoria Trails. Retrieved 2021-01-04.

"Sooke Potholes Park". BC Geographical Names .

48°25′41″N123°42′43″W / 48.428°N 123.712°W / 48.428; -123.712