The CRD is zipped up pretty tight for offroading unfortunately. Anything in the Sooke Lake water shed is absolutely out of the question.
The nearest publicly accessible trails west of Langford I know of are in Jordan River and the closest decent place I can think of northward that you can always get in to is Mt Prevost/Mt Sicker just past Duncan.
Once you are further west than Jordon River or North of Mill Bay/Shawnigan Lake things start to open up a bit more but since the vast majority of our wilderness lands on Vancouver Island are "privately owned" by Timber West and Island Timberlands, they like to put up gates on all the access roads and trench traps on the trails. They rarely allow any public access unless you buy a firewood license or are a member of an organized outdoor club on a scheduled excursion that was cleared months in advance and only after providing proof of liability insurance and signing waivers.
Sometimes they have to keep areas open to the public though because there are public parks or land reserves within them or if those lands are still on the crown TFL's. The one way a member of the public can have lawful right of way in private timber lands is by way of an old law granting miners right of way to prospect and access their claims. If you want a legal way in to privately owned lands then get yourself placer miner certificate and buy a junk claim where you want to go for the price of the registration fee and you get a couple years of legal right of way to access to it provided you meet your legal obligations to inform the land owner prior to going out. Not worth the hassle IMO but at least you can avoid trespassing charges simply for being in the wilderness.
If you're willing to go further up island there's lots of places to go, just meet up with the right folks who know the area and the best in and out points. Also check out the routes and destinations section of the forum, There are a few places posted there, but you will find the best places by going out on trail runs with people and most of the time it's organized privately between members.
Yeah it's all good bud, sometimes I just need to publicly vent a bit of frustration.
I have no plans to post detailed bypass info on public forums because deep down, I know you're right. As soon as some idiot with a 4x4 finds out about a trail it won't be long before stupid shit happens but when you look at what is actually "publicly available" there just ain't much there so it doesn't leave a lot of options open for the vast majority of people who will be responsible and respectful in their recreational activities.
Over the last few days I've had a couple great runs and just being out in that back country really stirs something deep in me emotionally. I was brought up in a pretty outdoor oriented family where going out to the lake and fishing or camping was not just recreational but a staple of living itself and I continue to have a close personal relationship with and appreciation of nature. I really think more people need to experience that for themselves and keep that personal connection with the ecosystem that enables them to live or we risk losing the public passion for protecting it and we all will suffer as a result of that disconnection.
Wild natural areas are for everyone to enjoy, not just a few elites with special access privileges. It makes me want to punch a CEO in the face when I see a no trespassing sign and a big red gate on what amounts to 200 square kilometers of wilderness that a company decides to leave a few pieces of heavy machinery in.
I want to see some PUBLIC trails posted but I bet you can count all the public off roading areas below the 49'th on one hand so why even bother having this forum section then, if you can just post the few that exist on the front page and call it a day. It's not like this anywhere else I've lived in BC and I think more people need to be saying this out load and in public for everyone else to see and hear. "That's just the way it is here" doesn't cut it for me when my kids and grand kids will miss out on the places I enjoyed, and you have to feel like a criminal just for going in to the woods for some basic recreation because there's no legitimate right of way on these "private" timber lands that I didn't get compensated one red cent for handing over our rights to. OK, OK, I said my piece, I'm just gonna shut up before I ruin my great mood today.. [/rant] ;-)
You know, someone always complains when a route or access point is publicized, thinking that's going to get it shut down faster, but it really doesn't matter anymore because whether a trailhead is publicized or not, they all get destroyed by TPTB. Logging is in high gear right now so there's lots of activity in there and any new trail or access is going to get noticed whether it's used a lot or not. Trying to prevent people from learning about them and taking advantage of them in the short window that is available doesn't do anyone any good and the trails still get blocked or destroyed anyway. One set of tracks will get a backhoe digging it out just as fast as ten or twenty will. The best way to police the backwoods IMO is by public oversight. They do it for free for Christ's sake! The more people are there the better behaved most will be as they tend to keep an eye on each other. If you zip everything up so tight that the average 4x4's can't get in then whoever manages to get in is scott free to do as they please with nobody else there to witness and hold them accountable for any damage they may do. It's as stupid as taking away guns from law abiding citizens thinking that will somehow prevent criminals from committing crimes with guns. If you disarm the "good guys" it only makes it easier for the "bad guys". This is not effective land stewardship policy and will ultimately have the opposite effect as intended. Anyone with half a brain who has been out there knows what's really going on. They just don't want you (the public) to see it because it's so appalling to see first hand how much unsustainable logging is destroying that land.
There's already a double backhoe trench across the trail connector to the Muir Main but all the ATV and dirt bike traffic has already packed it down enough to fourby it so having more traffic go through there is actually making it harder to keep it closed, it's just how the pieces move on the board in this ridiculous game of cat and mouse on the island. Land stewardship is not meant to be in the hands of private enterprise whose only concern is maximizing profit. They will simply block all access to the public and rape the ground for all it's worth and we're seeing exactly that happening. The public was never even consulted, let alone asked permission to gift 85% of OUR island timber lands to logging companies who took that gift right to the bank and said fuck you to the public because a few idiots couldn't help but shoot up and burn the equipment left back there or dump their junk in the bush. They had to know that if they took away access to almost all the backwoods that there would still be problems like this and it could even make the problems worse since nobody else is around to see it happen and report it.
You literally can not access the San Juan Ridge Land Reserve without "trespassing", so that tells me there is something very wrong with the way things are managed here, not with the the way the public uses the land. Offroading on the island these days is like doing a flash mob. Trail opens up, people pour in, trail gets closed, people make a new one somewhere else. You can either accept the reality for what it is and live your life they way you want to or just stay home and bitch about it online. Personally, I have a lot of respect for the wilderness but I'll be damned if I'm ever going to ask someone else permission to go there. You get one shot at living and you never know how long you have and you will never get "permission" to experience these places again before they are developed. Life is risk, calculate and make a move and actually live a little. Get in and enjoy it while you can, just respect the land, it's that simple. Don't damage property, don't leave your junk there, and try to leave it better than you found it for the next person. Good people still outnumber douchebags and together we can do a lot more to protect these places than any timber company is ever going to fork out for since it doesn't make them a buck, it only costs them money to secure an area.
Wikiloc Trail
https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=17909678
The CRD is zipped up pretty tight for offroading unfortunately. Anything in the Sooke Lake water shed is absolutely out of the question.
The nearest publicly accessible trails west of Langford I know of are in Jordan River and the closest decent place I can think of northward that you can always get in to is Mt Prevost/Mt Sicker just past Duncan.
Once you are further west than Jordon River or North of Mill Bay/Shawnigan Lake things start to open up a bit more but since the vast majority of our wilderness lands on Vancouver Island are "privately owned" by Timber West and Island Timberlands, they like to put up gates on all the access roads and trench traps on the trails. They rarely allow any public access unless you buy a firewood license or are a member of an organized outdoor club on a scheduled excursion that was cleared months in advance and only after providing proof of liability insurance and signing waivers.
Sometimes they have to keep areas open to the public though because there are public parks or land reserves within them or if those lands are still on the crown TFL's. The one way a member of the public can have lawful right of way in private timber lands is by way of an old law granting miners right of way to prospect and access their claims. If you want a legal way in to privately owned lands then get yourself placer miner certificate and buy a junk claim where you want to go for the price of the registration fee and you get a couple years of legal right of way to access to it provided you meet your legal obligations to inform the land owner prior to going out. Not worth the hassle IMO but at least you can avoid trespassing charges simply for being in the wilderness.
If you're willing to go further up island there's lots of places to go, just meet up with the right folks who know the area and the best in and out points. Also check out the routes and destinations section of the forum, There are a few places posted there, but you will find the best places by going out on trail runs with people and most of the time it's organized privately between members.
Yeah it's all good bud, sometimes I just need to publicly vent a bit of frustration.
I have no plans to post detailed bypass info on public forums because deep down, I know you're right. As soon as some idiot with a 4x4 finds out about a trail it won't be long before stupid shit happens but when you look at what is actually "publicly available" there just ain't much there so it doesn't leave a lot of options open for the vast majority of people who will be responsible and respectful in their recreational activities.
Over the last few days I've had a couple great runs and just being out in that back country really stirs something deep in me emotionally. I was brought up in a pretty outdoor oriented family where going out to the lake and fishing or camping was not just recreational but a staple of living itself and I continue to have a close personal relationship with and appreciation of nature. I really think more people need to experience that for themselves and keep that personal connection with the ecosystem that enables them to live or we risk losing the public passion for protecting it and we all will suffer as a result of that disconnection.
Wild natural areas are for everyone to enjoy, not just a few elites with special access privileges. It makes me want to punch a CEO in the face when I see a no trespassing sign and a big red gate on what amounts to 200 square kilometers of wilderness that a company decides to leave a few pieces of heavy machinery in.
I want to see some PUBLIC trails posted but I bet you can count all the public off roading areas below the 49'th on one hand so why even bother having this forum section then, if you can just post the few that exist on the front page and call it a day. It's not like this anywhere else I've lived in BC and I think more people need to be saying this out load and in public for everyone else to see and hear. "That's just the way it is here" doesn't cut it for me when my kids and grand kids will miss out on the places I enjoyed, and you have to feel like a criminal just for going in to the woods for some basic recreation because there's no legitimate right of way on these "private" timber lands that I didn't get compensated one red cent for handing over our rights to. OK, OK, I said my piece, I'm just gonna shut up before I ruin my great mood today.. [/rant] ;-)
You know, someone always complains when a route or access point is publicized, thinking that's going to get it shut down faster, but it really doesn't matter anymore because whether a trailhead is publicized or not, they all get destroyed by TPTB. Logging is in high gear right now so there's lots of activity in there and any new trail or access is going to get noticed whether it's used a lot or not. Trying to prevent people from learning about them and taking advantage of them in the short window that is available doesn't do anyone any good and the trails still get blocked or destroyed anyway. One set of tracks will get a backhoe digging it out just as fast as ten or twenty will. The best way to police the backwoods IMO is by public oversight. They do it for free for Christ's sake! The more people are there the better behaved most will be as they tend to keep an eye on each other. If you zip everything up so tight that the average 4x4's can't get in then whoever manages to get in is scott free to do as they please with nobody else there to witness and hold them accountable for any damage they may do. It's as stupid as taking away guns from law abiding citizens thinking that will somehow prevent criminals from committing crimes with guns. If you disarm the "good guys" it only makes it easier for the "bad guys". This is not effective land stewardship policy and will ultimately have the opposite effect as intended. Anyone with half a brain who has been out there knows what's really going on. They just don't want you (the public) to see it because it's so appalling to see first hand how much unsustainable logging is destroying that land.
There's already a double backhoe trench across the trail connector to the Muir Main but all the ATV and dirt bike traffic has already packed it down enough to fourby it so having more traffic go through there is actually making it harder to keep it closed, it's just how the pieces move on the board in this ridiculous game of cat and mouse on the island. Land stewardship is not meant to be in the hands of private enterprise whose only concern is maximizing profit. They will simply block all access to the public and rape the ground for all it's worth and we're seeing exactly that happening. The public was never even consulted, let alone asked permission to gift 85% of OUR island timber lands to logging companies who took that gift right to the bank and said fuck you to the public because a few idiots couldn't help but shoot up and burn the equipment left back there or dump their junk in the bush. They had to know that if they took away access to almost all the backwoods that there would still be problems like this and it could even make the problems worse since nobody else is around to see it happen and report it.
You literally can not access the San Juan Ridge Land Reserve without "trespassing", so that tells me there is something very wrong with the way things are managed here, not with the the way the public uses the land. Offroading on the island these days is like doing a flash mob. Trail opens up, people pour in, trail gets closed, people make a new one somewhere else. You can either accept the reality for what it is and live your life they way you want to or just stay home and bitch about it online. Personally, I have a lot of respect for the wilderness but I'll be damned if I'm ever going to ask someone else permission to go there. You get one shot at living and you never know how long you have and you will never get "permission" to experience these places again before they are developed. Life is risk, calculate and make a move and actually live a little. Get in and enjoy it while you can, just respect the land, it's that simple. Don't damage property, don't leave your junk there, and try to leave it better than you found it for the next person. Good people still outnumber douchebags and together we can do a lot more to protect these places than any timber company is ever going to fork out for since it doesn't make them a buck, it only costs them money to secure an area.
Yeah, noticed there is a new quadruple tank trap on Old Renfrew Rd.
Not your usual backhoe trench and dirt pile either. These were fucking war!