Bow Park

Walk-to score: 67

Transit-to score: 49

Parking on street

Wheelchair accessible trails in Bow Park area, steeper gravel trails towards Mackenzie Avenue

Dogs permitted: on leash

You might have driven down Mackenzie Avenue around Braefoot Park and idly wondered about that pedestrian overpass - wondering why anyone would put an overhead walkway to seemingly nowhere.

But the fact is, that overpass does lead somewhere! Right off the overpass, you find yourself on Ferndale Trail, heading up the hill towards to Bow Park, a superb example of how the hard work of volunteers working with the municipality can help preserve and restore natural ecosystems in suburban Victoria in a very short space of time!

Bow Park is also accessible off of Cedar Hill Road via Hopesmore Drive, and with Brodick Park is a habitat reclamation area smack-dab in the middle of a residential area that has rise up around it over the years. Its somewhat unique in that its Garry Oak groves sit in the midst of a boggier area, rather than the rocky, camass-covered outcroppings we typically see. There is small pond right in the middle of Bow Park (complete with ducks and frogs!), surrounded by Cottonwood, and the the understory of this Park is largely chokecherry, salmonberry and some Rosa Nutkana.

Park Highlights:

The stroll around the pond itself is a lovely walk, with benches placed strategically at a couple of spots.  If you go in late spring/early summer, you might be able to spy a nesting duck, or ducklings sunning themselves by the edge of the pond.  A number of residences back right onto the park by the pond, and then the trails make their way deeper into the forest, which is teeming with birds.

History:

Brodick and Bow Parks were first established around the time of the first round of subdivisions in the area.  One end of Bow Park opens up onto Brodick which is an open field area, with a small playground with an "old school" slide and swings.

More recently though, with its commitment to connected greenspaces, Saanich began more intensive work on the parks in this area, including Bow Park.

"In the spring of 2011 Saanich Parks began a project to reduce the grade of a connector trail that travels through Feltham Park and Bow Park to connect Mckenzie Avenue with Cedar Hill Road. Throughout the summer and early fall, Saanich Park staff along with Pulling Together volunteers, removed invasive species such as Himalayan Blackberry and English Ivy within a stand of Garry Oak, Bitter Cherry, Indian Plum, and Black Hawthorn trees. On Tree Appreciation Day Saanich staff and more than 50 community volunteers planted hundreds of native trees and shrubs along the portion of the trail from Livingstone Avenue to Bow Road. This area will be an ongoing restoration area and support from the community for maintenance is required." Our Backyard, a Newsletter on the Natural Environment in Saanich, Vol 11 Issue 4, 2011, pg 5

You can see signs throughout the park highlighting the areas where trees have been planted, and can see evidence of the invasive species removal crews at work.  It is amazing to see the effects that just 3 years of focussed work has had to move this area to a more naturally balanced mix of flora.  In the lower parts of the trail that connect to Mackenzie Avenue, you can see the return of horsetail, skunk cabbage and wetlands species in the understory of the cottonwoods and alder, and in the upper areas closer to the pond, the chokecherries and salmonberries are thriving.

Final note: If you take the time to stroll through the park on a warm evening, make sure you come armed with mosquito repellent!





Links:
Saanich Parks info on Bow Park
Our Backyard, A Newsletter on the Natural Environment in Saanich, Volume 11, Issue 4

All images © 2014 Janice Mansfield

Phyllis Park

Walk-to score: 22

Transit-to score: 32

Dogs permitted - on leash

Accessibility - not wheelchair accessible at all, somewhat steep, rough trails down to the shore.

Phyllis Park is one of those spots you probably wouldn't know about unless you lived in the neighbourhood. It provides some of the best uninterrupted views over the San Juan Islands to Mount Baker that you will find around Victoria, in the midst of a Garry Oak and Arbutus grove.

Keep going!!! There's more trails

Phyllis Park is one of a number of loosely connected small parks at the very south end of Arbutus Road, where the road heads up the hill to some rather expansive homes that were part of a 1980's development of the area.  If you are tromping through the park, you will find some of the park trails at the South end connect up with Mount Baker View Road and Phyllis Road in Ten Mile Point at the lower level, and there are a number of other parks on the other side of Arbutus Rd. near the top of the hill, including Viewpoint Park, Wedgewood Park, Wedgepoint Park and Benson Park,

The main park entrance, off Arbutus Road has prominent signage, with on-street parking.  You go directly up a few stairs to access the lookout deck (with the only bench in the park!).  There is some fencing to discourage the more adventurous from slipping and falling over some of the steeper sections of the rocky outcropping at the top.  And if you stopped at the top you might be fooled into thinking the lookout and moss-covered rocks and scattering of Garry Oaks and Arbutus trees was all this park had to offer.

Take a turn to the right, before you go up the stairs, however, and there is a whole trail network that takes you over the rocks, and into the forest below, and ultimately right to the rocky shoreline - the park covers more than 5 hectares in total! The trails are fairly steep in spots, and minimally tended (there were piles of dry broom in spots, indicating crews come through periodically to remove invasive species), so make sure you wear comfortable shoes, and have at least one hand free for easier going.

As you make your way down the trail, you will see many species of plants typical in the Garry Oak habitat - lots of grasses, Camassia Quamash, some Elegant White Death Camas (this one IS poisonous, don't eat it!!!), yarrow and plantain.  Further down the slope, the trail winds its way into a more forested zone, with Douglas Fir cover, and lots of Rosa Nutkana, trailing blackberries and wild honeysuckle.  The trail goes right down to the shoreline, where you can scramble down to a rocky beach area, or follow the shoreline along the rocky cliffs.  On a late spring day, there was evidence of otters, so be careful depending on the time of year - if they are nesting, they can be quite protective!

Some of the trails loop around, and straight up the cliff if you are feeling adventurous, but I recommend heading up the way you came down, as you need a sharp eye to make out where the trails pick up in spots.


Link: Saanich Parks info for Phyllis Park

All images © 2014 Janice Mansfield

Outerbridge Park

Walk-to score: 25

Transit-to score: 39

Parking, Wheelchair accessible trails

Dogs: on leash 

The first thing thay hits you when you get out of your car in the parking lot at Outerbridge Park on a late May day, is the smell of cottonwoods! That sweet smell that fills the air along with the fluff from the cottonwood seeds.

Outerbridge Park is one of Saanich's more recent park acquisitions, having been deeded to the municipality in 2005, and is a sanctuary of quiet serenity steps away from one of suburban Victoria's busier arterial roadways.  The park is approximately 3.8 hectares in size, with a main entrance off of Royal Oak Drive, and a secondary entrance off Blenkinsop Road.

The history

Joan Outerbridge began creating a bird sanctuary about 20 years ago, and we first encountered the property when my daughter Nicole was riding, and took over a "freelease" of a thoroughbred who was living in the barn on the Outerbridge Property (those of you with horse experience know I use the word "free" somewhat liberally ;)).

At that time, the area where the barn stands had some paddocks for the horses, but was well and truly fenced and gated off from the rest of the property - ostensibly to keep the deer out! The gate between the two sections of the property was only opened on those occasions when the gardeners helping Mrs. Outerbridge with the property came to fetch barrow-loads of composted horse manure.  All we knew at that time was that Mrs. Outerbridge was creating a bird sanctuary by buying up parcels of adjoining land as they came available, and was crazy about maintaining the flora to support bird habitat.  We were told leaving the gate open was a grave offense indeed!

Since those years it has been wonderful to see this little oasis turned into parkland accessible to the community at large.  The cultivated areas of the garden are being restored and enhanced through a contract with the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, and with each year, the gardens become a little more complete.  What has been especially fantastic about this space, is that Joan Outerbridge was able to see much of this progress.  She passed away a few months ago (February 2014), leaving a legion of people whose lives she touched through this little park.

Park highlights

Within the park, there is a figure 8 pathway that is wheelchair accessible through the more formal plantings, with a water feature, a small bridge over the pond, and some more formally planted beds. Towards the eastern side of the park, the landscape becomes more naturalized, with cottonwood trees, fir and some meadow that is being replanted with Garry Oak and Camas. Nesting boxes for birds are strategically placed throughout the park, and even on a rainy day, there are plenty of birds to see and hear.

The old barn structure still stands in the same location, but has been refurbished on the inside as a space for volunteers who help maintain the gardens.  The pathways continue through to the barn, but become a little steeper and rougher towards the Blenkinsop end of the park.

Dogs are welcome (on leash, and please pick up after them!), and on most days, you are likely to encounter a few other people taking a break and soaking in a little serenity.

(map location is approximate, there is clear signage to the parking lot and entrance)
 
Links:
Saanich Parks info for Outerbridge Park
Gardens at HCP, Outerbridge Park Memorial Walk

All images © 2014 Janice Mansfield

McMinn Park

Walk-to Score: 18

Transit Score: 36

Parking, Wheelchair Accessible trails

Dogs: on leash

I'm beginning with this little park because in the most literal sense, it all goes back to the beginning for me.  McMinn Park is one of Saanich's newer parks, and sits on the site of the former McMinn Riding Stables - literally right next door to where I grew up!

I grew up here in Victoria, BC in Cordova Bay - not quite at the dawn of time, but yes, harking back to a time when Cordova Bay was considered "the sticks".  With only a handful of buses coming through each day, if you didn't have a car, you were pretty much stuck there.

I grew in up a time when kids went free-range before it was a "thing", so it didn't really occur to us until we neared our teen years that we were isolated. Much of our days were spent in nearby fields generally mucking around, foraging for berries or stealing apples, or down on the beach prying oysters from the rocks at low-tide.

The history

 The subdivision we moved into in Cordova Bay was built on former raspberry farms, and was still surrounded by agricultural enterprises such as the original Firbank and Galey farms, and the McMinn riding stable right next door! There were fields with goats, a substantial amount of undeveloped trail (and by trail, I mean the re-wilded CNPR railway right-of-way, complete with decomposing railway ties).  I can remember "training" for a hike on the West Coast trail by hiking with a backpack filled with books through that stretch of trail where the horses would peek through the fence and the trees to see what was going on.

McMinn Stables provided riding lessons and boarding services, and was a fixture right beside our house at the end of Maxine Lane. The original entrance along with the McMinn residence and barns, off Symphony at the end of Maxine Lane, have long since been removed and replaced with subdivision, but the bulk of the property, including the area with the large riding ring (now meadow), was purchased by Saanich in the early 1990's to preserve as parkland.

Park highlights

This little park has a great mix of recreational space and natural habitat.  On a sunny day, as you walk through the forested areas, you can hear an abundance of birds chirping in the trees, and there are frogs in the stream areas.  It contains play structures on a sand surface, and 2 fully fenced tennis courts, and a portion of the meadow area is regularly mowed for impromptu soccer games, BUT the bulk of the park is minimally maintained (meaning there will be flowering grasses in late spring/early summer for those of you with allergies).

One of the original planted sequioas remains on the property in the middle of the open meadow area and while I can't be sure, I would hazard a guess may have come from the old Layritz nursery, which supplied many of the larger gardens in Greater Victoria with their tree seedlings, back in the day.

Beyond the meadow area, there is a fairly wide range of native species, many of which can be seen through as you meander through the trails in the forested areas of the park.  I noted Douglas fir, Grand Fir, Hemlock, Bigleaf Maple, Western Red Cedar and Alder trees, and a variety of edibles shrubs such as Elderberry, Thimbleberry, Oregon Grape, Chokecherry, and much more.

The trail circuit within the park itself, opens out to several spots in the neighbourhood, and you will regularly see local residents walking as families through the park. This park is also well connected to the Lochside Regional Trail system which is easy going on bike or foot.

Getting here

This is not the easiest park to get to if you were not familiar with it.  If you have cycled down Lochside Drive/Trail, you have gone right by it, and if you are going by car there is an entrance right off Lochside, although there are limited places to park.  The main entrance off Maplegrove, is just one turn off off Sunnygrove Terrace, a 5 minute walk from the bus stop on Cordova Bay Road (#32 for those of you travelling by bus).

Next time you are out in the Cordova Bay area, or cycling down Lochside, take a moment to stop in the park! It has great nostalgic value for me, given the original stables were right next door growing up.  Sentimental value aside, I think its a great example of the direction the municipality of Saanich is taking with its parks and greenspace policies.

Links:

Saanich parks info for McMinn Park
Lochside Regional Trail (official guide)

All images © 2014 Janice Mansfield