Sook Potholes Reginal Park is a gorgeous, family friendly place to visit on Vancouver Island. The Sooke Potholes themselves are interesting geological formations, that are popular as swimming spots in the summer. The area is good for walking, cycling, camping and even viewing the coho and chinook salmon salmon run! The loop we did was a short, easy walk to see the potholes, a waterfall, and Sand pebble beach, which is a good spot to skim pebbles. This is a lovely mini adventure if are on a road trip from Victoria to Port Renfrew.

Sooke Potholes Map

Sooke Potholes – the basics

Distance: 1.3 km (or, much further if you’d like to explore more of the Regional Park)
Elevation Gain: 40m-ish
Time: 30 mins- 1 hour
Cost: Pay parking ($2.25) from May 1st to September 30th
What to bring: Camera, the 10 essentials plus swimming things in summer.
Facilities: Drop toilets at the trailhead
Dogs: Dogs are allowed on a lead.
How hard is it? Easy on the trail. Harder if you climb down the rocks to the waterfall.
Extra Notes: This is a popular swimming spot in summer when the water is low, but it might be dangerous when the water is flowing quickly.

Sooke Potholes – Getting started

Sooke Potholes Regional Park is located near Sooke on Vancouver Island, 45mins west of Victoria. Access via the West Coast Highway 14, then turn north up Sooke River Road. We parked at parking lot 2 for the easy loop I’m describing.

From the parking area, follow the signs towards the Sooke Pothole Viewpoint. You need to walk down some steps to a platform that looks down to some of the deepest potholes.

These rock formations were created when large boulders got trapped in the canyon, with water swirling around them, creating deep “potholes” in the river. The water is a lovely colour, so you can see why this is a popular area to go swimming.

Deertrail Resort ruins

If you look left to the top of the canyon cliffs, you’ll see the ruins of Deertrail Resort. This supposed to be a posh luxury resort. Building started in the 1980s, but it was never completed. The buildings were mostly torn down and  then reclaimed by nature. People used to explore the ruins, but nowadays it is all boarded up and blocked by fences. You can see photos of it here and read about the history here.

Once you are ready to continue, go back up the steps, then walk along the top of the Canyon. There are several places where you can sneak up to the edge of the canyon and look down. Plus a few locations where you can climb down to the river.

Sooke Potholes waterfall

This is the view from the cliff above the waterfall.

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Once you climb down to the river, you can get up close to the twin falls that cascade down into one of the potholes.

Swim in the Potholes?

We visited in autumn, so no-one was swimming. But I can see why this is a popular area to go for a dip on hot summers days. Getting down to the river can be quite rugged (see the trail in my photo below left.) Apparently the pools and beaches to the south, near Parking Lot 1, are more family friendly, with slower moving water.

If you do visit for a swim, please be careful. The water can be cold, especially in the early season, and there are rocky surfaces and fast-moving sections of the river. It’s a good idea to bring swimming shoes to protect your feet from the sandstone.

After looking at the waterfall, we wandered a little further north to Sand Pebble Beach before looping back to the parking lot. The beach is a lovely spot for skimming rocks.

Spring Salmon Place (KWL-UCHUN) Campground

If you’d like to spend longer at the Sooke Potholes you can go camping slightly further up the road. There is some beaches by Sooke Potholes campground as well as a picnic shelter. They even have specific tent pads for cyclists (with a bike rack.) This is a private campground managed by the Capital Reginal District but run by the T’Sou-Ke First Nation.

• Available sites:
  67 sites all FCFS. There are 4 bike-specific sites.
• Cost (cash only): 
  • vehicle accessable sites $25 night; $10 extra vehicle
  • Tent pad for cyclists $15/night
  • $9 for firewood
• Dates:
  Normally mid-May to mid-September

Please note the campground closed in 2024 due to the Old Man Lake wildfire in 2024. It should reopen in May 2025. When we visited in September, the area North of Parking Lot 2 was all closed. 

Sooke Potholes Regional Park is a great area to go for a stroll and see the cool rock formations. We visited on a grey day, but the area would look completely different in the sunshine, with bright turquoise waters! I would love to come back in the summertime and camp, swim and spent more time in this beautiful area.