The Goldstream Park Salmon Spawn

If you are in Victoria in October or November one of the places you should visit is Goldstream Provincial Park. The Goldstream River is home to an annual salmon spawn. The river is teeming with fish and gulls are there to feast on the dead and dying fish. When the spawn is fully on the bald eagles come in droves also to feed on the fish. There is an eagle cam in the Nature House on the estuary and you can zoom in on the eagles as they feast. The park is beautiful in with fall colors and the salmon spawn phenomena is really something to see. The nature house has tons of information and displays, so be sure to take it in. Admission is by donation. The main parking lot has pay parking but you can also park on the side of the highway or across the road next to the bridge for free. The park is very buy during the salmon spawn, especially on weekends.

The Malahat Drive Scenic Tour

If you drive north of Victoria towards Duncan, you will have to travel over the Malahat Drive. It starts just on the outskirts of Langford, a city in and on the Western Shore of greater Victoria. The first place you come to is Goldstream Provincial Park. It is a right turn and well signed. It is a beautiful park. In the summer it is green and lush. The Goldstream River runs into Saanich Inlet a large fjord that lies between the Saanich Peninsula north of Victoria and the Malahat. There is a large estuary at the end of Saanich Inlet. There is a nature house on the estuary that tells much about the Park and the great salmon runs that occur in October and November each year. As the salmon start to die after they spawn, the eagles and gulls move in for the feast. It is not uncommon to see 40 or more eagles in one visit. There is an eagle cam in the nature house that you can manipulate to view the eagles.

When you drive further up the Malahat there are a few viewpoints worth visiting. The best one is at "split rock" at the top of the Malahat. The highway was cut through the rocks and a large chunk of rock is between the highway and the lookover. It is beautiful as you will see from the attached video.

If you are going back into Victoria, you can pull off the highway to the right as you get back to Goldstream and take the short trail into Little Niagara Falls. It is especially spectacular in the winter when the water is really running, or the falls are frozen. You can also access the falls by walking through the tunnel under the highway from the Park, if the water flow is not too significant.

The fall colors in October are incredible. This park also has some significant old growth trees some of which are located in the parking lot.