Just visiting or new to Vancouver Island and looking to meet adventurous people? Looking for your next challenge, a hidden gem, or a safe way to build your outdoor skills? Our Adult Outdoor Social Adventures program offers community hikes, camping and backpacking trips, outdoor skills courses, navigation workshops, day trips, multi-day expeditions, transportation-supported adventures, and much more.
Adult Outdoor Social Adventures is a community-focused, volunteer-driven outdoor recreation program supported by Western Educational Adventures Inc. as part of our commitment to giving back to the community. Most community hikes and social adventures are offered free or at a very low cost to keep them accessible, while Western Educational Adventures provides the commercial insurance, permits where required, equipment, vehicles, mentorship, administrative support, and professional risk management systems needed to operate the program safely.
Our long-term vision is to build a safe, welcoming, year-round outdoor adventure community that eventually becomes its own independent non-profit society. Until the program is large enough to support itself, operating under Western Educational Adventures allows us to avoid duplicating costs such as insurance, permits, accounting, and administrative systems, allowing more resources to be invested directly into the community.
We're currently building the volunteer team needed to make this program sustainable year-round. Whether you're looking to join an adventure, meet new people, learn new outdoor skills, volunteer, or eventually become a community leader, we'd love to have you involved. Check out the upcoming adventures below, join our Facebook community, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date.
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In order to have a succesful hiking experience, you need to have a base level of fitness and physical ability. This scale is intended to give clients an idea of the challenges they face while on our guided hikes.
| RATING | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Easy | These hikes are relatively flat with level, gravel trails most of the time and are no longer than 3km. They may have some uneven surfaces but not for very long. Easy hikes are a great introduction to hiking and are typically suitable for most people that have some physical fitness. If you can walk 5km on flat terrain and up the occasional small hill in the city, you should be able to do this hike. |
| Moderate | A moderate hike has some flat sections and some steeper sections with loose rock and uneven trail surfaces. Distances are usually 4–9 km. Steeper sections are often short, with flatter terrain not far away. Some routes may include short sections of exposed terrain or steep slopes that can be uncomfortable for people with a significant fear of heights. These hikes are the next step in physical challenge and are typically suitable for mostly active people who walk longer distances or jog weekly. As a general fitness guideline, find a steep hill in the city that is at least 200 m long—you should be able to walk up and down it at least 8 times to comfortably enjoy this hike. |
| Challenging | A challenging hike is typically longer than 10 km and includes several steep, rocky, and uneven sections. Routes may also involve exposed terrain and sustained off-trail travel or bushwhacking through brush and rough terrain. Participants should be comfortable travelling in this type of backcountry terrain. As a general fitness guideline, you should be able to run at least 3 km on a flat surface in the city and complete a moderate hike without being very tired at the end before attempting a challenging hike. |
| Very Challenging | These hikes are typically longer than 16 km and involve longer, steeper, and more exposed sections than Challenging-level hikes. Participants should expect sustained travel through steep, rocky, uneven, and exposed backcountry terrain, which may be uncomfortable for people with a fear of heights. Routes may also involve sustained off-trail travel or bushwhacking through brush and rough terrain. You should be able to run more than 5 km on a flat surface in the city and should have significant hiking experience on a regular basis before attempting this level. |