Beautiful Victoria, British Columbia: In, Out, and Around Beacon Hill Park

Yesterday, the first Saturday in October,
was glorious here in Victoria, British Columbia,
the perfect day for a long, leisurely walk
in, out, and around Beacon Hill Park.

Leaves Turning in Beacon Hill Park

Along the Seashore by the Park
Juan de Fuca Strait

Beacon Hill Park is magnificent,

and Sir James Douglas, the governor of 

the Colony of Vancouver Island

protected the area in 1858.

The City of Victoria officially made it a municipal park in 1882,

and today it is the biggest public park in the city,

historically significant and a refuge for native ecosystems.

 Garry Oak on the Northwest Ridge of Beacon Hill Park
One of the Rarest Ecosystems in Canada

Along Southgate Street

The park is 183 acres (74 hectares)
in size, with about 127 acres
available for the free use of the public.

Some 80 acres are more natural,
but the rest is taken up by infrastructure,
buildings, sports fields, gardens, even
private sports clubs and a children's farm.

beaconhillparkhistory 

Walking for miles can be a thirsty, hungry adventure,

but Cook Street with its restaurants, pubs, and coffee cafes

is steps out of the east side of the park.

Terry took me to Rica Salsa, a wonderful 

Mexican restaurant, just off Cook Street.
One of the friendly owners has cousins

living in our home city of Aurora, Colorado!

We had a grand conversation while he cooked 

and assembled fresh, flavorful beef and pork soft tacos.

Terry heads into Rica Salsa

Delicious Rica Salsa Fare

After lunch we randomly roamed through the park and along the seashore,
enjoying the warm sunshine and varied scenery.

A Giant Sequoia Tree
One of Many Beautiful Trees in the Park

Along the Park's Sea Cliff and Shore

Clover Point 

A Sailboat on Juan de Fuca Strait

with the Olympic Mountains of Washington State in the Background

What a Difference the Light Makes!

The Same Sailboat Not Two Minutes Later (in Color!)

A Rose Garden Mid-Park

Roses Still Thrive in Early October

One of the Wooded Areas in the Park 

Peacocks Love This Garden Adjacent to the Rose Garden

There are many popular outdoor activities in the park,

among them watching the waterbirds along Goodacre Lake.

Getting handouts from the visitors is very popular with the birds!

On sunny days, the turtles get this spot;

on grey days the ducks take over.

These may be the most photographed turtles

on Vancouver Island!

Stretching in the Sun

Goodacre Lake with Its Pebble Bridge,

a Tribute to BC Artist Emily Carr

My favorite spots in the park are natural areas

where knobs of bedrock stick out.

It's fun to climb all over them,

but it's also fun to think about their origin.

The outcrops are small roche moutonnées or sheepbacks

formed by moving glaciers that smoothed over the rock surface

on the upstream side and plucked out rock on the downstream side. 

The rocks themselves are metamorphic migmatites 

formed deep in the crust from gabbros and granodiorite.

The Smooth Side of the Sheepback

I have the layout of this huge park internalized,

but Terry and I have just scratched the surface

of what you can see, do, and learn in this Victoria treasure.

You really can't say you've seen the best of Victoria

if you haven't been to beautiful Beacon Hill Park!

And for map lovers like me:

I couldn't find any maps I could post,

but here are links to a couple if you are so inclined.

1.  The best map of the park I could find;
     scroll to the bottom of the page:  map

2.  Zoom, zoom, zoom with Google,
     and checkout the satellite view:  map