A Weekend on Salt Spring Island: Ganges, a Summit and a Cidery

Plan my Salt Spring weekend · What's on this weekend

Find a place to stay on Salt Spring

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Two days on Salt Spring Island cover a summit lookout, a brewery, a night at the arts centre, a working farm, a quiet bay and a cidery, with Ganges as the base for both nights. It suits a weekend away from Victoria or Vancouver, and it works in autumn and winter, when the island is quiet and the trails are yours.

Start with breakfast at Woodley's Kitchen on Upper Ganges Road, where the coffee comes with pastries baked in-house and the menu follows the season. It sits inside Harbour House Hotel, a 50-room hotel where most rooms look over the harbour, so it doubles as a place to stay.

Then walk it off in Mount Erskine Provincial Park. The way in is Dodds Trail, from the end of Trustees Trail. The rocky summit looks over Booth Bay and Sansum Narrows, and on a clear day across to Vancouver Island, Galiano Island and the Lower Mainland. The park has no road access and no drinking water, so carry your own.

Late in the day, head to Salt Spring Brewing Co. on Furness Road. The beer is brewed, canned and poured on the one site, and kids and dogs are welcome in the tasting room.

Dinner is at Salt Spring Inn on Lower Ganges Road, a restaurant with seven guest rooms upstairs. Book a table ahead online, or book a room and walk home.

Finish at ArtSpring on Jackson Avenue, the island's performing and visual arts centre: live music, theatre, dance, film, talks and exhibitions. Tickets for upcoming shows are on its page.

Find a place to stay on Salt Spring Island

Drive to the south end and Ruckle Heritage Farm on Beaver Point Road. It is still a working farm, with a market garden, sheep, cattle, goats and poultry, and the parkland around it has walking trails and about seven kilometres of shoreline.

Next is Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park. Trails run along a bay that looks up at Mount Maxwell and Baynes Peak. Boats launch by hand only, with no ramp for trailers, so it suits a kayak on the roof. Carry your garbage out with you.

End at Salt Spring Wild Cider House on Sharp Road, north of Ganges. The cidery is open all year and its restaurant serves lunch and dinner. The ciders are wild-fermented, from a dry and a semi-dry to a perry made only from pears. Book a table ahead.

• BC Ferries sails to three terminals on the island: Fulford Harbour from Swartz Bay near Victoria, Vesuvius Bay from Crofton near Duncan, and Long Harbour from Tsawwassen on the mainland.
• The three terminals are on different sides of the island. Ganges, the main village, is a drive from each.
• Mount Erskine and Burgoyne Bay are park trails with no services. Bring water and pack out what you carry in.

Coming from the other direction? Pair it with a weekend in Duncan and the Cowichan Valley, a short ferry from Vesuvius, or three days in Victoria.

Start from this plan, set your dates and swap any stop you like.

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