This weekend, I went on a challenging hike with my girlfriend, Hannah and our personal trainer, Jill. We took on Broom Hill in Sooke, but unfortunately, we did not quite make it to the top. Overall, we did 3.14 kilometers in distance with 83 meters of elevation. Roundtrip, this took us 1 hour and 11 minutes.

This was a different sort of hike, in the sense that it was not marked whatsoever. There were several intersecting trails, increasing the potential of getting lost along the way (using my AllTrails map, I only got us lost twice). The elevation was quite intense in some places. Further into the hike, the trails had been outfitted for mountain biking and at one point we ended up climbing straight up a bike ramp, kind of like a Jacob’s ladder. There were also huge tree trunks to climb over and the trail was extremely overgrown in parts. Around the 1.7km mark, my girlfriend was really struggling, so we decided to circle back to the car, rather than push on and be unhappy.

Photo of the trees at Broom Hill by me.

 I found the conversations on this hike very meaningful and deep. We discussed some pretty heavy topics (ie. religion and sexuality, the concept of right and wrong, homelessness in downtown Victoria, etc.). Hannah mentioned an idea she heard that we tend to have better conversations and speak more freely when we’re not looking the person in the eye that we’re talking to. I’d never heard of this before and I haven’t found any sources to support it, but it did pique my interest.

Why you should try this hike: It’s a secluded, quiet & challenging adventure. 

Drawbacks/be aware of: Steady elevation throughout, trail is overgrown and extremely narrow in parts, requires climbing bike ramps to continue on the trail, unmarked trails – no signage whatsoever, no parking lot (some street parking available).

Mountain Biking is very popular on Broom Hill.

If you are interested in how I find different hiking routes that interest me, feel free to watch this short how-to video:

Photo by me.