Riding Areas

Swartz Bay to Victoria
Distance: 26.2 km (16.2 mi)

This alternative route down the Saanich Peninsula from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to Victoria beats the Pat Bay Highway (Hwy #17), hands-down. Starting in the flat, agricultural northern part of the peninsula, it kisses the seashore before moving inland through mixed fields and forests to solidly-treed south Saanich. Although straight at the start, the road gets curvier the closer you get to Victoria. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of suburban traffic and the nearer you get to Victoria the heavier it gets. Still, it is a sweetly-engineered road with great pavement and varied scenery. Not convinced? Try the freeway drone next door for comparison.

East Sooke
Distance: 22.5 km  (14.2 mi)

The quiet East Sooke countryside offers an elegantly-arranged, four-course meal for your riding pleasure. Roughly equal in length, each segment offers its own distinct flavour to tempt your riding palate. Kangaroo Road is an appetizing starter, winding through the woods. Rocky Point Road, with its rolling countryside and grade-A surface, is a hot, straight blast blended with a spicy, twisty descent. East Sooke Road is a delicious S-curve climb up through the trees to a regional park and Gillespie Road is a smooth, sweet mousse of curves and asphalt, plunging down to and back up from the eastern shore of Sooke Basin. Your napkin, sir?

West Coast Road
Distance: 41.9 km  (26 mi)

The longest road on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island is as unpredictable as the weather systems coming in from the Pacific. As you leave the traffic and development of Sooke, the road ahead seems sunny and clear. Radiant curves and cloudless pavement play hide and seek with the ocean all the way to Jordan River, where the water views end. For the next quarter of the route, periods of tight curves are expected, with a 20 per cent probability of slightly-rougher asphalt. Check the forecast, though. Late in the drive, look for gale-force road conditions (poor visibility, turbulent pavement, deep troughs of off-camber hairpins) to move in over the untidy, second-growth landscape. Yet, if you like isolation, you’ll get plenty here, and that is worth a little stormy weather.

Malahat Drive
Distance: 25.3 km (15.7 mi)

Starting in the lush rainforests of Goldstream Provincial Park, the legendary Malahat Drive climbs the steep west side of the Malahat Mountains, overlooking the scenic Saanich Inlet. The vertical slopes of Vancouver Island’s only eastern inlet were once a barrier to early land travel between Victoria and the rest of the island, but the Malahat Drive now bridges the south and the north. High above the water, this smoothly-paved road provides three roadside lookouts boasting some of the most spectacular views on Vancouver Island. The Malahat Drive is considered dangerous, so slow your speed and enjoy the view.

Shawnigan Lake
Distance: 24.9 km (15.4 mi)

Whether you ride the east or the west side of Shawnigan Lake, or do both as a circuit, the tight twists and poor sight lines on this route should encourage you to obey the speed limit. Hidden driveways and the local RCMP detachment are additional reasons for caution. The contrast to the Malahat is obvious from the moment you leave the wide, sweeping Trans-Canada Highway at the southern end. The road begins a snaking descent, probably better ridden from the other direction, before splitting and encircling the lake. Both branches are consistently curvy, at least until they rendezvous in the town of Shawnigan Lake. From here, it is a fairly straight ride back to the Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy #1).

Salt Spring Island
Distance: (south end circuit) 13.9 km (8.6 mi); (north end circuit) 18.9 km (11.7 mi)

Salt Spring Island boasts a laid-back lifestyle, but the Island’s country roads deliver excitement to motorcyclists. Beautiful scenery, reduced traffic and excellent curves await. Although some of the pavement is a little rough, Salt Spring’s northern circuit is recommended. Cruising through stands of arbutus up the island’s west side, looping down through its pine-forested mid-section and twisting along the shore of St. Mary Lake, this route captures many facets of this peaceful Gulf Island. Watch out for sheep crossing the road and check out Ganges, Salt Spring’s main town, before leaving the island. Browse the farmers markets, visit arts and crafts studios, sip organic coffee or dine on local fare.

Victoria to Tofino
Distance: 317 km

For a full-day or multi-day ride from Victoria that showcases the best of Vancouver Island, make Tofino your destination. Head north on the Island Highway, over the Malahat to Duncan and on to Nanaimo and west to Port Alberni, riding through some of the largest and oldest trees in the world, at Cathedral Grove. From Port Alberni, the highway winds through mountains, along lakeshores and finally past sandy Long Beach as you enter Tofino.