Saanichton

History

The beautiful rolling landscape of the Saanich Peninsula is dotted with farms, communities, parks, forests, lakes, and ocean inlets. This area was first inhabited by the Wsanec First Nations people, who now live in four communities on the Saanich Peninsula: Tsarslip, Tsawout, Pauquachin, and Tseycum. The Saanich Peninsula today is a bountiful countryside where rural and urban lifestyles blend together.

Location

Saanichton is situated between Victoria and the BC Ferry Terminal. The village of Saanichton is located west of the Pat Bay Highway (Hwy 17), at the junction of Mount Newton Cross Road and East Saanich Road, with outlying farmlands extending east of the highway toward Saanichton Bay. The towns of Saanichton and neighbouring Brentwood Bay fall under the Municipality of Central Saanich.

Saanichton is located less than 10 minutes south of the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal (connects Victoria with Vancouver), five minutes south of the Victoria International Airport and just 20 kilometres north of Victoria.

Places to See

• Heritage Acres
  
  The Saanich Historical Artifacts Society (S.H.A.S.) is a volunteer society dedicated to the preservation of the past.
  
  The Society is dedicated to collecting, restoring, housing, and demonstrating artifacts from Saanich's rural past. It has one of Western Canada's largest collections of working steam engines, tractors, agricultural machinery, and household and industrial artifacts.
  
  The chapel is available for weddings and memorials. The schoolhouse is available for receptions, meetings, etc. During the summer, the barbecue and park areas are available for group picnics, etc.
  
  
• Butchart Gardens
  
  Benvenuto, Italian for 'welcome', is the name the Butcharts used for their original estate - now a National Historic Site of Canada, and still owned by family descendants. The Butchart Gardens offer 22ha (55 acres) of wonderful floral display in Greater Victoria. You will find spectacular views as you stroll along meandering paths and expansive lawns.
  
  In 1904, Jennie Butchart began to beautify a worked-out quarry site left behind from her husband's pioneering efforts in the manufacture of Portland cement at nearby Tod Inlet. Her venture remains a family commitment to horticulture and hospitality spanning over 100 years. From the exquisite Sunken Garden to the charming Rose Garden, this show garden still maintains the gracious traditions of earlier times.
  
  
• Log Cabin Museum & Archives
  
  Operated by the Saanich Pioneer Society, the Log Cabin Museum & Archives features collections from pioneer families, both in textual and in archival form. There's a simulated pioneer kitchen; a handicraft corner with women's beautiful handwork displays; a library with a wide variety of books for loan, and ongoing changing displays. There is also a good collection of First Nations artifacts and the verandah shows off a display of larger implements and domestic paraphernalia. The Society is fortunate to have a very hard working archival group that is putting information on computer for preservation, and these records are available to the public upon request.
  
  
• Island View Beach Regional Park
  
  This park offers an expansive beach along the eastern shore of the Saanich Peninsula, and excellent birdwatching. There is a fragile sand dune area which is home to several rare and beautiful plants, as well as a boat launch for access to Cordova Channel and Haro Strait.
  
  
• Saanichton Christmas Tree and Ostrich Farm
  
  After farming on the Saanich Peninsula for many years, Mike, Joan, and Olivia Fleming established the Saanichton Christmas Tree & Ostrich Farm in 1981. 15 varieties of Christmas Trees are grown on this six-acre farm, and there is a "Choose and Cut" operation.
  
  There are also 3 pens with 13 adult breeding ostriches. Ostrich eggs are collected and incubated on the farm. The farm produces a wide array of fruits and vegetables, flowers, and culinary herbs.
  
  
• John Dean Provincial Park
  
  Situated on top of Mount Newton on southern Vancouver Island, John Dean Provincial Park overlooks the pastoral Saanich Peninsula, the Gulf Islands, and the Cascade Mountains. John Dean Park protects one of the last stands of old-growth Douglas fir and Garry oak on the Saanich Peninsula, and is a popular destination for local residents, who visit the park to hike in a pristine wilderness environment and enjoy the spectacular views. The mountain and surrounding area figure prominently in First Nations culture, and early descriptions of the mountain mention large rings of white stones placed there by the Saanich people. Lau Wel New, as Mount Newton is known to the First Nations of the Saanich Peninsula, was the high point of land that enabled them to survive the Great Flood. Here legend has it that the Saanich ancestors were able to anchor their canoe until the floodwaters subsided using a giant cedar rope. Lau Wel New was the first land available as the floodwaters receded.
  
  A number of hiking trails, varying in degrees of difficulty, wind through the inspiring forest across the south and east face of Mount Newton at this day-use park. Adventurous hikers can climb to the summit of Mount Newton. In the spring the park comes alive with a vivid display of wildflowers native to British Columbia, including drifts of blue camas lilies, which carpet the understorey, as well as common red paintbrush, sea blush and shooting stars.
  
  Wildlife flocks to this lush forest and from the top of Mount Newton you can watch as ravens, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, and turkey vultures put on a display of soaring techniques. The summit of Mount Newton is also regarded as an excellent location to watch some of the best sunsets on Vancouver Island.

Things to Do

• Biking
  
  The northern trailhead of the Galloping Goose Trail is on the Sidney waterfront and runs a considerable distance south from the intersection of Lochside Drive and Beacon Avenue in North Saanich to Quadra Street near Victoria. The Lochside section is rougher and less well marked as it passes through urban neighbourhoods, but highly enjoyable as it leads through rural Saanich and Saanichton. Along the way it passes near Island View Beach Regional Park, a good place to take a break.
  
  A series of rough roads and dike trails doubles as bike pathways in the marsh inland from Island View Beach Regional Park. Just begin pedalling out along one of the trails that lead from the beach into the marsh. Some of the trails eventually lead through the marsh back out onto the north end of the beach. Unfortunately, once there you won't make much headway, as your tires sink in the sand.
  
  
• Hiking
  
  When you hike the trails in John Dean Provincial Park, you are following some of oldest in the provincial park system. There is great hiking here for those who admire old-growth forests. Explore here in spring to see a vivid display of wildflowers native to British Columbia, including drifts of blue camas lilies, which carpet the understorey, as well as red Indian paintbrush and white erythroniums. Wildlife flock to the food-rich forest, and from the top of Mount Newton, you can watch as ravens, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, and turkey vultures put on a colourful display of soaring techniques. The summit of Mount Newton is renowned as the place to watch some of the best sunsets in British Columbia.
  
  
• Golf
  
  Glen Meadows Golf and Country Club in Sidney is a challenging 18-hole championship golf course. Nearby golf courses include Sunshine Hills Golf Course (9 hole - Par 3) on Central Saanich Road in Saanichton and the challenging 9-hole Prospect Lake Golf Course on Prospect Lake Road in Central Saanich. The Victoria area boasts 8 championship golf courses in close proximity, including Cordova Bay Golf Club, Olympic View Golf Club, Gorge Vale Golf Club, Royal Colwood Golf Club, and Bear Mountain Golf and Country Club. Nearby Oak Bay has the Victoria Golf Club and Uplands Golf Course.
  
  
• Diving
  
  Divers can explore the wrecks of the G.B. Church and the HMCS Mackenzie. Graham's Wall, Tozier Rock, The White Lady, Burial Islet, Octopus Point, and other hot spots off the peninsula's coast are accessible from Sidney, either as day charters or liveaboards.

Events

• Gallery by the Sea
  
  The Community Arts Council of the Saanich Peninsula (CACSP) presents an annual display of paintings by local artists on the walls of the Fish Market on the pier at the foot of Beacon Avenue. Choose your favourite painting by voting at ballot boxes located in the Cannery Breezeway, at the Historical Museum, and at the Laroche Gallery. Paintings are for sale.
  
  
• Music in the Bay
  
  Every third Saturday beginning September 15 at the United Church in Brentwood Bay. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the "open stage" kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Come support your favorites.
  
  
• Central Saanich Days
  
  The annual Central Saanich Days celebration is held at Centennial Park on BC Day Weekend (the first weekend in August) and is sponsored by the Central Saanich Lions Club. Festivities include pancake breakfasts, hay rides, face painting, children's games, a petting farm, a slowpitch tournament, and lots more!

Contact Information

District of Central Saanich

1903 Mount Newton Cross Road
Saanichton, BC
V8M 2A9

Regular Office Hours
Monday to Friday
8:30am to 4:30pm
Website: www.centralsaanich.ca