This quite challenging loop includes the Brentwood-Mill Bay Crossing, the Kinsol Trestle and the full length of Shawnigan Lake for about a 86 km not counting the 5.5 km Brentwood Crossing (total 92 km).  What a great loop this is for hardy cross-country cyclists; especially the new trail between Langford and the east end of the rail trail along Shawnigan Lake being by far the toughest section.

The regional districts have done a super job creating new trail sections to a high standard.  It is the number and length of the steep grades that make it challenging.  The hope is that when the new surface hardens and all the surfacing is completed that the hardship will be reduced somewhat.  Two of us did this on lightly loaded hybrid bikes and I lost track of how many times I got off my bike – my partner did quite a bit better than I did.

There is great bridging on this trail including a 132 foot suspension bridge – width 3’9” with 6’ high fencing giving the appearance of a very narrow feature bridge.  The new Sooke Hills Wilderness Park Trail runs for 13 km from Humpback Reservoir to the CVRD Boundary on trail and service roads in the CRD Watershed climbing 350 metres between the low point at Waugh Creek and the high point on Goldstream Heights.  It is another 4.6 km between here and the Galloping Goose Trail.  The Cowichan Valley new Trail 8.8 km section is a heavily undulated well built trail as it reaches the rail trail above Shawnigan Lake.  The total length of the new trail from the Galloping Goose to the rail trail above Shawnigan Lake is 26.5 km.