Sooke is the last real town on Vancouver Island's southwest coast before the road narrows and the forest takes over. West of Victoria, Highway 14 passes through the growing suburbs of Langford and then reaches this community of about six thousand people on Sooke Harbour and Basin, a sheltered inlet protected from the open sea by the long curving sandbar of Whiffin Spit. On a clear day, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the snowy Olympic Mountains of Washington State fill the southern horizon.
The Pacific Marine Circle Route starts here in earnest. From Sooke, Highway 14 follows the coast west toward Port Renfrew, winding through second-growth forest with glimpses of the sea, past beaches and trailheads such as China Beach and the start of the Juan de Fuca Trail. The road is narrow, with tight bends, steep sections, rough patches and the occasional logging truck, and it gets more remote the further west you go. Beyond Port Renfrew, the route turns inland on the Pacific Marine Road toward Lake Cowichan, a winding road through logging country with few services and no mobile coverage in places.
Sooke itself has fuel, groceries, coffee and a few restaurants, and it is the place to fill the tank before heading west, since services along the coast and through to Lake Cowichan are sparse and unreliable. Just north of town, the Sooke Potholes are a series of deep rock pools carved by the Sooke River, popular for swimming on hot summer days, with clear green water and smooth sandstone ledges.
The forests around here are temperate rainforest, with Douglas fir, western red cedar and hemlock, and the coast is home to bald eagles, seals, sea lions and, offshore, orcas and grey whales during migration. Near Port Renfrew, a grove of ancient trees, including a huge solitary Douglas fir left standing in a clearcut, has become a symbol of the fight to protect old growth.
Weather on this coast is changeable. Fog often rolls in from the strait, even in summer, and rain is heavy from autumn to spring. The best time to ride is July to September, on a clear morning, when the light on the water is brilliant and the roads are dry.