Sooke Potholes Regional Park

• Author: WantsToTravelMore
• Accommodation: Vancouver Island

I suggest visiting this park on a cold wet day in March when the kids are out of school because you’ll have the whole place to yourself.

If you are like me, you think of potholes as something in the road that you don’t want to drive over. In the case of Sooke, this city’s potholes are geological formations that make deep pools in the Sooke River’s rock that offer excellent freshwater swimming, or when it’s really cold and wet, some of the best waterscapes around.

To reach Sooke Potholes Regional Park, you head north from Highway 14 east of the main city centre. A five km drive takes you to three different parking levels with basic amenities (i.e. a clean outhouse). The trails to the viewpoints and the small beaches are easily undertaken on foot or by bicycle.

We headed to the upper viewpoint from the top level parking area and then did a small loop back to the parking lot. We took a side trip to a picnic area called Sand Pebble Beach, which at that time of the year was more pebbles than sand or beach. But more terrific views were seen as you will note from the photo gallery with this submission.

Sooke Potholes Regional Park also connects with the Galloping Goose Trail, where we found Charters Creek Trestle.

Our youngest member of the party was tiring out so we did not see as much as we would have liked. I recommend a good three hours with a good camera to explore the park.

For longer stays, The Land Conservancy of BC operates a tent and RV campground next to the park, which is open May to September.