Visiting the Malahat Skywalk
byI recently had the chance to visit Vancouver Island’s newest attraction, the Malahat Skywalk, and it’s like no attraction I’ve experienced before!
Visiting the Malahat Skywalk
The experience starts at the welcome centre, where you’ll find a small gift shop and cafe just past the ticket gates. Down a gravel path, are several carvings and natural art pieces that offer fun photo ops for families as children jump up on stumps and pose making silly faces – and this is just the beginning of the experience. The path leads to the elevated TreeWalk, a 600m boardwalk amongst the trees, where kids can also do a little scavenger hunt and spot bent wood owls, carved birds and more along the arbutus and cedar-lined walkway.
The walkway has a very gentle incline until you reach the main attraction: a 250m spiral ramp that offers incredible panoramic views of Finlayson Arm, Saanich Peninsula, Mount Baker and the distant Coast Mountains.
Before you wind your way up the ramp you will need to decide how you want to get back down: Will you walk or will you slide? If you’d like to take the slide (20m high and 50m long) that twists through the inner part of the spiral, you can pick up a mat at the bottom. Carry the mat to the top with you as it will be your way down on the slide.
Once you get to the top, stopping for many photo ops along the way, you can also walk across a net – looking all the way down to the bottom of the spiral.
There are places to sit, info boards to read, and of course the view.
Whether you slide back down or take a leisurely stroll back down the ramp, there’s a thrill is simply being up on the skywalk regardless.
More tips:
- The whole walk is 2.2km in length so wear comfortable shoes. Sneakers/runners are also good to walk across the net at the top. I was wearing flip flops and I felt like my toes would slip through the sturdy rope. They wouldn’t, but better shoes would have given me more confidence.
- On a hot summer day, I would recommend bringing some water and even a snack with you to enjoy before you walk back along either the elevated TreeWalk or the gravel path below that leads you back to the welcome centre.
- It is recommended that you plan for about 90 minutes for the whole experience, so plan your visit accordingly.
- When you purchase tickets online, they’re good for a year from your purchase date so even if your plans change, you can visit another time within that year.
- Adult passes are $31.95 and an annual adult pass is $87.00, so if you plan on visiting every season – which would be awesome to see all the changing colours in the fall, the blossoms in the spring, it’s worth the upgrade.
The Malahat Skywalk opened in July and it’s now open seven days a week, 10:00am to 6:00pm, 365 days a year.
Getting to Vancouver Island
Thanks to Helijet for getting me over to Vancouver Island so I could have this experience.
The 35 minute flight from Downtown Vancouver to Victoria was really scenic, and such a thrill after not flying anywhere in over a year! Keep an eye on their social media for flash sales.
View these images and more in my Instagram stories, posts and reels.
