Kinsol Trestle from Shawnigan Lake

Shawnigan Lake, BC

The Trip

This is a delightful short trip to do in the mid-morning and then followed by a picnic at the beach and a swim in the lake.  If you have time after the swim, there are a few wineries in the neighbourhood to keep you amused.

Drive to West Shawnigan Lake Provincial Park located at 48° 38' 31.9986" N 123° 39' 12.5856" W on your GPS.

Start your ride by coming out of the park gate and turning left on West Shawnigan Lake Road.  After about 200 yards you'll come to the entrance to the bike path on the right.  Ride up to the bike path and turn right.  After that you'll cross a few roads and pass by parking lots, but it's a direct route to the trestle, about 14 km round trip.

The ride is on hard packed pea gravel or dirt and is basically flat - it was originally a railroad line afterall.  It is treed for some shade along the way and a very pleasant ride.

The trestle itself is quite worth seeing.  It is one of the tallest free-standing and most spectacular timber rail trestle structures in the world..  Here is a link to learn more about it.

Map - Full Route

The map below is a Google "My Maps" embedded document and you can double click on it and expand it to see it better on either your computer or smart phone.  If you'd like to download the actual GPS data to use instead, click on this link: Shawnigan Lake to Kinsol Trestle. 

Elevation Profile

The profile looks quite violent but note that its range is only 60 meters.  Most of the ride is fairly level.