Humpback whales swimming in calm forest waters
Victoria · Canada

30 Minutes North of Victoria: The Malahat Skywalk, Goldstream Park & Kinsol Trestle

Thirty minutes north of downtown Victoria: climbing a 32-metre timber spiral tower over a glacial fjord and sliding down a 20m spiral chute.

Just 20 to 35 minutes north of downtown Victoria along the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1), the city suburbs vanish into a dramatic landscape of 600-year-old coastal Douglas fir and red-cedar rainforests, a glacial ocean fjord (Finlayson Arm), and one of the newest architectural wonders in Canada: the Malahat Skywalk.

Visitors walking across the suspended Adventure Net 250 metres above sea level at the top of the Malahat Skywalk
At the summit of the 32-metre spiral tower of the Malahat Skywalk, a strong mesh Adventure Net lets you stand in mid-air looking straight down through the centre of the structure!

1. The Malahat Skywalk (35 Mins North of Victoria — Free Shuttle Bus from the Inner Harbour!)

Opened in 2021 in partnership with the Malahat Nation (and served in summer by a complimentary shuttle bus departing directly from downtown Victoria near the Inner Harbour!), the Malahat Skywalk is a 100% accessible, stroller-and-wheelchair-friendly engineering marvel:

  • The 600-Metre TreeWalk & 10-Storey Spiral Tower (250m Above the Fjord!): start by walking along a 600-metre elevated timber walkway that weaves 20 metres high through the canopy of fragrant red-barked Arbutus (Pacific Madrone) and Douglas fir trees, leading directly into a colossal, 32-metre-tall (105-foot) circular Douglas-fir-and-steel Spiral Tower! A gentle, step-free spiral ramp winds up to the 360-degree viewing deck 250 metres above sea level—looking straight down into the emerald fjord of Finlayson Arm, the Saanich Peninsula, the Gulf Islands and snow-cone Mount Baker in Washington State!
  • The 20-Metre Spiral Slide Down! After walking across the suspended central Adventure Net at the top, grab a felt mat and rocket down the 50-metre-long, 20-metre-tall enclosed stainless-steel spiral tube slide from the top of the tower to the ground in 10 seconds (unlimited slide rides are included in your ticket)!
Ancient moss-draped western red cedars and cascading Niagara Falls inside Goldstream Provincial Park near Victoria
Twenty-five minutes north of Victoria at the foot of the Malahat pass, Goldstream Provincial Park protects old-growth cedars and a hidden 47.5-metre waterfall.

2. Goldstream Provincial Park (Salmon Run & Waterfall) & The 1920 Kinsol Trestle

  • Goldstream Provincial Park (17 km North of Victoria — Free Entry!): on your way to or from the Malahat Skywalk, stop at Goldstream Park to walk beneath 600-year-old giant western red cedars to hidden 47.5-metre Goldstream 'Niagara Falls' (the exact same height as Ontario's Niagara Falls!). Visiting between late October and early December? Watch thousands of Chum, Coho and Chinook Salmon swim inches from the riverbank to spawn while hundreds of Bald Eagles feast in the trees overhead!
  • The 1920 Kinsol Trestle & Merridale Cidery (15 Mins Further North in Cowichan Valley): continue 20 minutes north to walk across the 187-metre-long, 44-metre-high wooden railway bridge of the Kinsol Trestle—one of the tallest timber rail trestles in the world—and taste farm-pressed craft cider and Pinot Noir in the Cowichan Valley!
The monumental 44-metre-high, 187-metre-long curved wooden beams of the 1920 Kinsol Trestle spanning the Koksilah River
Built in 1920 by farmers and loggers from massive Douglas fir timbers, the restored Kinsol Trestle in the Cowichan Valley is a masterpiece of wooden railway engineering.

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