OUTERBRIDGE PARK

Outerbridge park, Victoria BC – small in area but big on beauty!

This park is new to me … what a find!  These photos were taken in early spring (well … winter for us in Victoria – Feb. 24th!) so the full beauty is still to come.  It’s still a very beautiful spot – popular with local people for strolling and walking their dogs.

This property (3.8 ha (9.3 acre)) was owned by Mrs. Outerbridge from the late 80s to 2005. She spent these years creating gardens, ponds and landscape features to create an oasis for wildlife, particularly birds. For a number of years the property was known locally as the ‘Shangri-La Bird and Nature Sanctuary’ and was open to the public. Mrs. Outerbridge offered to sell the property to Saanich with the understanding that the park would be kept as a bird and nature sanctuary, and in 2005 it become a park.

Outerbridge Park has limited parking at its main entrance off of Royal Oak Drive, and pedestrian access from Blenkinsop Road. Enjoy many features including handicap accessible trails, benches, an interpretive sign, three ponds, and Lochside Creek. A wide variety of native and ornamental plants can be seen in formal and naturalistic settings; many chosen for the food and shelter they offer birds.

The Rocky Point Bird Observatory (http://rpbo.org/) will conduct monthly bird walks in Outerbridge Park on the 2nd Sunday of each month starting at 9 am. RPBO has also compiled a list of birds you might encounter while visiting the park, see: http://rpbo.org/outerbridge_park.pdf.

Saanich Parks partners with the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific for the ongoing operation of the park, and much work has been done since acquiring the property. Come visit this quiet oasis and share our admiration for the woman who created it.