Vancouver Island is home to many amazing hikes. One of my favourites is Holmes Peak. I have done this hike many times as it is short but offers amazing views. Holmes peak is in Gowlland Tod Provincial Park in the highlands. The start of the hike is a 40-minute minute drive from the University of Victoria, but it is totally worth it. This area is a hot pocket for hikes. From this one starting point, there are hundreds of hikes you can explore including Holmes Peak, Jocelyn Hill, and Lone Tree Hill, and you could even hike all the way to Mackenzie bight but that is a pretty long hike!
This is the route on Google maps from UVic to Holmes Peak Trail.
Holmes Peak is rated an intermediate hike on Victoriatrails.com. It has some steep areas and can be slippery at times, but that is expected with any hike and it is very manageable. I would take my whole family on this hike as I do not find it too hard. The round trip is only around 1.25 hours so very short, and it is 2.2km. The hike offers a variety of trails such as bridges, wide trails, narrow trails, and trails with lots of roots. My favourite part of this hike is the summit. The summit is a very large area that is super fun to explore. On the side, with a view, there is a large rock/grassy area with some arbutus trees. If you look even further there is a swing that was made by someone on one of the lower arbutus trees. This is my favourite part. Going on the swing on the edge of a mountain peak is one of the best feelings ever and I cannot recommend it more. The swing is also very safe because you are not actually on the edge of the mountain like it looks like in photos but there is room on both sides of the swing if you fell off.
The summit of this hike also has many areas you can sit, relax, and even have a picnic. There are beautiful meadows and forests right at the top.
The View is Saanich inlet which is the same view you see from the popular hike Mount Work but the view from Holmes Peak is much closer to where the ocean meats Goldstream. You are also much closer to the inlet on this hike. I love this hike so much because all the colours and sights are top-tier.
All Trails is a great website/app that shows fine details about the hike including the length of the hike, elevation gain, directions, weather, and even reviews.
Here is a link for some of the beast trails in Gowlland Tod Park.
https://www.alltrails.com/parks/canada/british-columbia/gowlland-tod-provincial-park
