Driving Over The Malahat For Easterners & Others

Quite often I get a great idea for a blog topic before I’m even out of bed in the morning. 

That’s what happened Friday when I woke up at 6:30am, grabbed my iPhone off the bedside table and began reading a few comments on my new blog post. 

I had casually mentioned in it that Paulette and I left Victoria to “drive home over the Malahat” which prompted these early comments: 

The Hollingers:  OK, so what does "drive over the Malahat" mean to us Easteners...

Paul and Marsha Weaver:  Glad the Hollingers asked that question. I was wondering the same thing.

Thanks to both of you for giving me this blog topic idea!

View of Mt. Baker in Washington St. from the Malahat summit

The Malahat Drive is the scenic mountain highway that connects Victoria at the southern tip of Vancouver Island with the Cowichan Valley 30 miles to the north.  It is regarded as one of the most scenic stretches of roadway on the entire Trans Canada Highway. 

Looking south down Saanich Inlet towards Victoria from summit

It begins by winding through the rainforest of Goldstream Provincial Park and rises to the 350 metre summit with its spectacular views of the Gulf Islands and the faraway mountains of the mainland.

View looking towards Sidney and the Victoria International Airport

Just one hundred years ago the story was much different.  Back then it could take up to 3 days by horse-drawn wagon to reach Victoria from the Cowichan Valley.   The road (trail??) was a single set of wagon tracks with long stretches of switch-backs necessary to negotiate the steep terrain up and down the mountain.  The only other travel alternative was to travel by boat or rail.

Looking across from the summit at Salt Spring Island

Farmers in the Cowichan Valley campaigned for years in the latter part of the 1800’s for a better road to Victoria.  Several surveyors insisted at the time it was an impossible dream.  As is often the case in situations like this it took one man with vision to tackle the job and turn it into a reality.  His name was Major J. F. MacFarlane who began his remarkable one-man survey in 1903.

Click to start Slide Show - The Malahat with a bit of snow

Starting at Mill Bay, Major MacFarlane painstakingly mapped a trail through the bush, carefully recording the elevation and route marked by a lengthy series of pegs at regular intervals using only a hand compass, measuring tape and aneroid barometer.  He worked for three long years on this project while many contemporaries thought he was simply a madman calling the project “MacFarlane’s Folly”.

Even today, one has to drive carefully on the Malahat

It took several more years of lobbying, pleas, protests and finally a provincial election to convince the government to allocate the funds needed for the project.  Eventually, things fell into place and the gravel road between Victoria and the Cowichan Valley was completed in 1911.  Judging by old photos it was a pretty scary ride with steep cliffs and hairpin turns.  Let’s just say it wasn’t RV worthy.

Archive photos of the old Malahat Highway – pretty dicey looking

Driving an automobile over the Malahat was not undertaken lightly either in the early years. Preparations for the journey included checking the spare tire, filling containers of water for overheated radiator, packing rations in case of breakdowns. Hairpin curves, occasional rock or mud slides, flat tires and broken axles were all commonplace on this single lane mountain road with no guard rails.

This is where we turn right to head for Cowichan Bay and home

Rebuilding and redesigning the highway has been an almost non-stop process since the opening. The blasting, widening and paving seem to have gone on forever and continues right to this day trying to keep pace with up island development and increases in traffic that always seem to keep slightly ahead of the road's capabilities. Have a great Saturday, and thanks again for visiting!