This is one of my 12 Vancouver Island bucket list hikes for 2019. Checkout the full list here.
Fast Facts
Access: Off Strathcona Heights Road
Distance: 2.5k-ish
Difficulty: Moderate, it is a mountain hike so expect the incline.
Highlights: Them views! And the swing.
Mount Baldy, or Old Baldy Mountain, in Shawnigan Lake is becoming more and more well known for its beautiful vistas and its stunner of a swing. Who doesn't like a swing on top of a mountain? No one, that's who. With beautiful views over Shawnigan Lake, this is an excellent summer hike.
There are a couple routes to get onto Mount Baldy, we chose to take the old logging road with access off of Strathcona Heights Road. This is a trail that is accessible, however it is not being maintained, so use caution. The one-way trek is about 2.5 kilometres, and the first portion up the old road is quite steep.
Once you get to where you can view the lake, you can follow the road to the right to continue to the summit or take the trail to the left to find the swing.
It's a pretty straight forward mountain climb, we did the round trip in about 1.5 hours.
Other Vancouver Island Hikes