Mathieu Powell.
Writing Impacts.
Greater Victoria is replete with parks and walking paths. Some, like buried treasures, are hidden away and not easy to find. I found one such park is located 13 km west of downtown Victoria – about a 30 minute drive. It was a perfect escape whenever I needed to take a break from the city to commune with nature and renew my spirit.
In the cool wet of winter, magnificent 500 year old Douglas-fir trees rise like dark columns into the canopy above which echo with the scolds of stellar’s jays. Emerald green mosses grows lushly under a verdant canopy. It’s like walking through an emerald gemstone. In spring, the forest comes alive with new colors. White fawn lily, spring gold and shooting star adorn the forest floor and the scented yellow blossoms of big leaf maple appear above.
The 91 hectare park is well managed and includes a Nature Centre, CRD Parks staff and volunteer naturalists who answered all my questions. I found brochures and seasonal displays featuring plants and animals of the park.
The paths are very flat and easy to walk along. They include access ramps, interpretive signs, wooden curbs, benches and a shelter. Visitors with limited mobility who use a wheelchair, walker or cane will be enthralled with the 550-metre boardwalk of the Elsie King Trail through the magic of this woodland park.
After sheltering generations of the Saanich people of the Coast Salish Nation, a European settler named James Francis purchased the property on the east side of Munn Road in 1840. His son Thomas lived there his entire life, bequeathed the land to the Province of BC in 1960 when it became Thomas Francis Park. Soon after, the property on the west side of Munn Road named after naturalist Freeman King merged with Thomas Francis in 1967 and was renamed Francis/King Regional Park.
I suggest you play hooky from work, take an afternoon off and feed your love of nature. Everyone needs a brisk hike amongst tall trees. Just bring your rain gear.
Mathieu Powell is Vancouver Island Now’s representative for marketing and advertising for the Great Victoria area. For more about advertising opportunities with Vancouver Island Now, click here.