One of Victoria’s gems is Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park
Witty’s Lagoon is located in Metchosin, one of the Westshore communities in Victoria. It is a very pleasant drive through rural farm land to get here. You can begin your exploration of Witty’s Lagoon at the Nature Information Centre where you can check out the interpretive displays on the lagoon’s natural and cultural history, and find out what’s in season. When on site, the CRD Parks Naturalists will give you a sense of what to watch for before you hit the trails.
Witty’s Lagoon
The trail down to the ocean winds through luxurious woodland of immense Douglas Firs, Cedars and Broadleaf Maple. You will cross Bilston Creek, which flows towards Sitting Lady Falls spilling over the volcanic rocks into the lagoon below. In the summer months the falls are just a trickle but it become a raging torrent during winter rains.
Bilston Creek
Sitting Lady Falls
The lagoon is formed in an area where fresh water meets salt water, and the wind, tide, and current create an environment teeming with life. The calm, nutrient-rich waters are warm and shallow, creating valuable nurseries for animals which tolerate both salt and fresh water and feed on the microscopic life flourishing here. Further on lies the salt marsh, a tidal zone bordering the lagoon. Many of the plants found in the saltmarsh are critical for wintering wildfowl which feed in this area. Finally, you will come to the long sandy beach with spectacular views of the Juan de Fuca Strait and the Olympic Peninsula. At very low tide the sand flats extend a long long way making for great exploration and great fun on warm summer days!
Salt Marsh at Witty’s Lagoon
Walking along the Saltmarsh
The beach at Witty’s Lagoon
Sand Flats at Wittys Lagoon
Amenities
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Accessible Nature Centre and teaching shelter.
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Accessible toilets at the nature centre, teaching shelter and Tower Point. Pit toilets at the beach, Whitney Griffiths Point and near Sitting Lady Falls.
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Picnic areas at the nature centre, Tower Point and the beach.
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Main entrance paved parking lot has parking for 55+ vehicles, room for full-size buses.
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Tower Point gravel parking lot provides parking for 15 vehicles, plus grassed area for overflow parking (June-Sept).
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School parking lot has one accessible stall.
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Information kiosks at the main entrance, beach and beach parking lot and Tower Point.
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Bike rack at main entrance.
[…] Girl suggested Witty’s Lagoon – one of the many bits of Victoria that she knows of old but that I have not yet visited. We […]
[…] atmosphere. Follow Metchosin Road for approximately 6.7 kms to Lagoon Rd. On the way you will pass Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park, another gem with trails leading past Sitting Lady Falls down to a beautiful sandy […]