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This South Island Map contains many links to our pages
on Towns, Lakes, Parks, Trails and Campgrounds. Click
on a live area of the map to link to the desired page.
The
exposed waters of Vancouver Island's southwestern coast
quickly dispel any notion that an ocean is an ocean is
an ocean. The true personality of the Pacific is revealed
as you traverse the slopes of San Juan Ridge as the Strait
of Juan de Fuca makes its entrance from the open water
of the Pacific. Conditions shift dramatically from the
sheltered, rain-shadowed waterways of the Strait of Georgia
with its gaggle of tranquil islands. Here you face the
open ocean, where nothing breaks the rolling swells or
deflects the sting of winter storms. For those who listen
for the force of the West Coast, here it begins to speak
up, way up.
Many a dark chapter has been written about ships and crews
that perished in the violent storms that rake the raw
shoreline. This is the Pacific's Davy Jones's Locker.
Thrown up on the beach, survivors considered themselves
blessed if they could reach the West Coast Lifesaving
Trail. As harsh today as then, less-endangered people
willingly subject themselves to this legendary trail's
test of endurance. Such a reputation adds a wild spice
to adventuring here. Do not treat this environment lightly.
Each year some unfortunate soul ventures too close to
the ocean and pays the ultimate price. Venture with care
and you'll come away with wonderful memories of your time
spent by the shoreline, where many creatures live in splendid
harmony with the ocean's deep rhythms.
Southern Vancouver Island covers the country between Port
Renfrew and Bamfield
on the west coast and Malahat
and Nanaimo on
the east side. Most of the population lives along the
east coast, where farming in the lush, rolling Cowichan
and Chemainus Valleys has gone hand in hand with logging
since Vancouver Island was an independent Crown Colony.
The heart of agriculture lies south of Nanaimo, the Hub
City, and this pastoral atmosphere persists as you make
your way north to Parksville
in central island. However, its hard to ignore the slopes
of the Vancouver Island Mountains that begin to nudge
travellers closer to the coastline for wont of wide valley
bottoms. Most roads west peter out quickly in the face
of this granite tour de force. The exception is the cross-island
melange of paved highway and gravel logging roads that
link the sheltered Cowichan Valley with the storm-battered
community of Bamfield on the west coast. A greater contrast
is hard to find, which is what makes exploring this region
so fascinating. There's plenty of easygoing adventuring
to be found by sticking to the main routes, although everyone
should treat themselves to a backroad or two where the
valleys meet the Strait of Georgia. There are beaches
here the likes of which are found nowhere else on the
coast, with views that engender intimacy with the landscape,
yet emphasize its isolation.
Getting
There
Owing
to the ruggedness of the southwest region, access is
limited to the paved coastal Highway 14 and several
unpaved backroads. Highway 14 begins in the Victoria
suburb of Colwood Corners. It links the village of Sooke
on the west side of Sooke Basin with Port Renfrew on
the south shore of Port San Juan (actually a wide bay),
a distance of 70 km to the north. To the north, the
Harris Creek Mainline and Hillcrest Logging Roads link
Port Renfrew with Mesachie Lake on Cowichan Lake, and
from there with Highway 18 and the Cowichan Valley.
The most westerly section of the 7809 km Trans-Canada
Highway runs north-south through southern Vancouver
Island between Victoria
and Nanaimo, a distance of 113 km. Highway 14 runs 35
km north of Nanaimo to Parksville, and beyond to the
northern end of Vancouver Island. Highway 18 is a 29
km stretch of blacktop that runs east-west from Highway
1 through the Cowichan Valley between Duncan
and Youbou. From Youbou a series of logging roads leads
108 km west to Bamfield on the west coast.
Ferry service from Brentwood
Bay on the Saanich Peninsula with Mill Bay on the
north end of the Malahat Drive also connects with Highway
1. BC Ferries connects the Lower Mainland with Nanaimo's
Departure Bay
from Horseshoe
Bay terminal in West Vancouver, and Duke
Point from the Tsawwassen
terminal in Delta. BC Ferries also connects with southern
Vancouver Island at Crofton From Vesuvius
Bay on Saltspring Island, and with Chemainus from
Thetis and Kuper
Islands.
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