Mount Doug: up and down and around the hill
Cordova Bay from the trail up Mt. Doug
Parking: Carpark off Cordova Bay Road just north of the junction with Ash Street
Time: 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate. Even when wet this trail is quite manageable, but you might find a stick useful.
Route
Take the Irvine Trail next to the washrooms. Cross Cordova Bay Road via the crosswalk and continue until you meet the Whittaker Trail. Turn left (the Irvine Trail coincides with the Whittaker Trail for a few hundred yards), and continue until the Irvine Trail branches to the right. Follow the trail as it angles up the hill. Mount Doug is on your right.
After about five minutes, you come to a junction with the Norn Trail. Continue straight on, and then, after about 50 yards, take the next turn to the right. This is the only spot where an important intersection is not marked. Continue until you come to the road. Mount Doug will be on your left.
Cross the road. You’ll see some walkers taking the easy route. Not us. Pick up the trail on the other side, and head upwards. Mount Doug will still be on your left until, after about five minutes, you climb up some rocks to the left, marked by a tree stump and an arbutus tree, and angle upwards. Now Mount Doug is on your right, and soon you’ll have glimpses, and then full views, of the sea. Keep climbing and follow the well-trodden path. You will pass occasional signs.
After a few more rocky stretches you reach a plateau beneath the cell phone tower. Take the path, around the outcrop, to the car park. Walk up to the summit and then down again.
To the left of the viewing area at the end of the car park, take the Glendinning Trail. Descend carefully down a steep rocky trail, hanging on the broom at the side, and then down a narrow, then broader, sandy path until you hit the Harrop Trail (not marked). Turn left and follow the trail past a massive Douglas fir. At a “walker” sign, take a jog to the left, and then right.
Pass a hydro pole on the right and continue down, underneath the hydro line. At the fourth pole down, take the Norn Trail to the left. Continue on this trail, across a car park (not ours), until you strike the Irvine trail again. Continue on the Irvine Trail, across the crosswalk, and back to the washrooms and our car park.
Time: 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate. Even when wet this trail is quite manageable, but you might find a stick useful.
Route
Take the Irvine Trail next to the washrooms. Cross Cordova Bay Road via the crosswalk and continue until you meet the Whittaker Trail. Turn left (the Irvine Trail coincides with the Whittaker Trail for a few hundred yards), and continue until the Irvine Trail branches to the right. Follow the trail as it angles up the hill. Mount Doug is on your right.
After about five minutes, you come to a junction with the Norn Trail. Continue straight on, and then, after about 50 yards, take the next turn to the right. This is the only spot where an important intersection is not marked. Continue until you come to the road. Mount Doug will be on your left.
Cross the road. You’ll see some walkers taking the easy route. Not us. Pick up the trail on the other side, and head upwards. Mount Doug will still be on your left until, after about five minutes, you climb up some rocks to the left, marked by a tree stump and an arbutus tree, and angle upwards. Now Mount Doug is on your right, and soon you’ll have glimpses, and then full views, of the sea. Keep climbing and follow the well-trodden path. You will pass occasional signs.
After a few more rocky stretches you reach a plateau beneath the cell phone tower. Take the path, around the outcrop, to the car park. Walk up to the summit and then down again.
To the left of the viewing area at the end of the car park, take the Glendinning Trail. Descend carefully down a steep rocky trail, hanging on the broom at the side, and then down a narrow, then broader, sandy path until you hit the Harrop Trail (not marked). Turn left and follow the trail past a massive Douglas fir. At a “walker” sign, take a jog to the left, and then right.
Pass a hydro pole on the right and continue down, underneath the hydro line. At the fourth pole down, take the Norn Trail to the left. Continue on this trail, across a car park (not ours), until you strike the Irvine trail again. Continue on the Irvine Trail, across the crosswalk, and back to the washrooms and our car park.