Salt Spring Island, just a half hour ferry away Vancouver Island, is a small slice of paradise that’s often overlooked by tourists on the sightseeing trail from Victoria to Tofino. Those that take the short ferry ride to Salt Spring however, discover a vibrant community with a lot of personality that prides itself on its arts, agriculture, and small independent business. You won’t find any McDonalds here – Salt Spring is all about enjoying local. Unwind and sip on some Salt Spring Island wine and take in the views.
In this guide, I’ve detailed all the best things to do on Salt Spring Island, but if you think I’ve missed something (and I probably have), feel free to let me know!
Salt Spring Island Cheese
Salt Spring Island Cheese is a local staple that’s been selling artisan goat cheese for nearly three decades. While the various cheeses flavoured with different herbs and spices can be found all over Salt Spring and Vancouver Island, the best place to try them is on the farm itself. As well as sampling the various cheeses, visitors can watch the cheesemaking process firsthand, enjoy delicious goat milk gelato and cheesecake in the café, and (most importantly) say hello to the goats themselves.
Discover Four Amazing Salt Spring Wineries
While not as well known as the Okanagan or even the Cowichan Valley wine region to the west, the Gulf Islands are producing some very high quality wine. Unlike other Gulf Islands, where wineries are few and far between, Salt Spring is home to four wineries all within spitting distance of one another, making them perfect for visiting in one day.
Garry Oaks Estate Winery is the oldest and largest of the Salt Spring Island wineries, as well as arguably the most picturesque. Seven acres of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Léon Millot, Pinot Noir, and Zweigelt grow beneath Mount Maxwell, with fantastic views from the tasting room over the valley. Wines here exemplify the Coastal BC terroir: refined, crisp, and acidic.
Saltspring Winery is located on a beautiful property right next door to Garry Oaks. Though the vineyard might be nearly as old as its neighbour, it’s recently changed hands, and reopened as The Picnic Bistro at Saltspring Vineyard. The bistro features a beautiful outdoor seating area overlooking the vineyard of Léon Millot, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Epicure (aka Sauvignette), and Chardonnay.
Kutatás Winery is named for a Hungarian term for research, inquisition, exploration or quest, a nod to the owners’ heritage. Winemakers Mira Tusz and Daniel Dragert, previously of Averill Creek, lease and farm fruit from a Saanich Peninsula vineyard in addition their Salt Spring location. Most of the wines here utilize spontaneous fermentation, with the exception of their sparkling. If you’re a lover of natural wine, this is the winery for you. The two are focused mostly on Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay, though there are a number of Germanic varietals that they inherited with the vineyard.
Vivezza Vineyard is the newest winery on Salt Spring Island. Avant-garde winemaker Paul Troop has made a name for himself for his decades of work in Gulf Island wineries (including at Saltspring Island Winery). He’s also one of British Columbia’s leading propagators of Blattner varietals, which are hybrid grapes especially bred to resist diseases, leading to a vast reduction of chemical sprays. From about 100 trial varietals, Paul has whittled his vineyard down to only the grapes that work best in the region, though you probably haven’t heard if any of them. Look out for Petit Milo, Corivese, and Epicure (aka Sauvignette).
Discover Salt Spring’s Farm Stands
It’s impossible to drive through Salt Spring without noticing all the farm stands that line its roads. While farm stands aren’t uncommon in certain more rural areas of Vancouver Island, they’re definitely more popular here on Salt Spring. (Most recent count is over 200!) Usually located alongside the road on or near the farms themselves, farm stands (and bake stands) sell a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables, flowers, farm-fresh eggs, dairy products, honey, jams, baked goods, and sometimes crafts. And the best part? Operated on an honor system, most farm stands on Salt Spring Island have a self-serve setup where customers can leave payment in a designated box, though its increasingly common to see farm stands that also allow shoppers to e-transfer payment.
While you’ll no doubt past tons of farm stands worth pulling over for on your travels throughout Salt Spring, here are a couple of notable ones worth keeping an eye out for. The Hen & Hound Farm Stand is the largest on the island, and is practically a little cafe (with seating, and a view!) Salt Spring Kombucha offers delicious local kombucha and Mt Maxwell Coffee is the go-to roaster on the island, while Northend Farm , Stowell Lake Farm , and Laughing Apple Farm all offer fresh produce. And if you’ve looking for a snack, The Piper’s Buns , Dave’s Artisan Granola , Salt Spring Cookie Co , Brigitte’s Pastries , Forest Moon Chocolates , and Cake & Kiln all offer some of the best nibbles.
Start Your Day at Local Cafés
if you’re after that cup of coffee and fresh baked snack to start your day of exploring, there are several fantastic Salt Spring Island cafés located in and around the central hub of Ganges. Switchboard Cafe is a local favourite located in an old telephone exchange building and is known for its friendly and relaxed vibe. The same owners have also more recently opened up The Coffee Can , which is an even more casual spot – it’s run out of a tiny shipping container not far from several food trucks. Another Ganges coffee shop is TJ Beans , which has one of the best patios in town – perfect for people-watching as you start your day. Salt Spring Coffee is the cafe location of the roastery that started on Salt Spring in 1996, but has since moved production to Richmond and can be found in grocery stores across BC. Cassette Cafe and Dive Bar is a hip new spot operating out of an old converted gas station that’s one part café in the mornings, one part burger bar in the evening. Finally, Mavericks Cafe is a cozy modern spot that sells homemade ice cream as well as coffee. their specialty? Affogato.
Grandmother Tree
Though there are several tiny patches of ancient old growth forest that attract tourists to remote areas on Vancouver Island, it’s easy to forget that the entire region, including Salt Spring Island, was once covered in these giants. Most visitors (and even many locals I suspect) totally miss this particularly notable Douglas Fir, the second-largest on the island and estimated by some to be 400 years old. Though the grandmother tree isn’t quite as impressive as the nearby world’s largest , it’s also 100 times easier to access. It’s just a short one minute walk along a flat trail from Stevens Road.
SSI Mead Co.
For the uninitiated, mead is a 9000+ year old alcoholic beverage is produced by fermenting honey (unlike beer, which is made from fermenting grains, or wine, which is made from fermenting grapes) and is also sometimes known as honey wine. SSI Mead Co. is the only meadery in the area, and though they’ve been selling at local farmer’s markets for some time, they’ve only just opened up their farm-based tasting room. A particular highlight was trying the two meads in the Pure line, each of which was made from honey produced by bees fed on a different type of flower. The resulting meads are surprisingly different, and both worth a try. Even though all the sweetness comes from the honey, the meads here range from dry to sweet, and all are surprisingly clean and crushable on a hot summer day.
Salt Spring Shine
Opened in 2016 by Michael Papp and Rie Otsubo-Papp, two Cordon Bleu chefs and former restauranteurs, Salt Spring Shine is a distillery that stands out for its use of honey to distill its base spirit. In addition to a vodka and gin, they also produce a line of moonshines, including apple pie, mango, and barrel-aged versions. The most popular is the apple pie, but the recently introduced mango is also doing super well, and it’s no surprise. It just jumps out of the bottle with bright fresh juicy mango flavour. The small tasting room is cozy, and always has great tunes playing on the record player.
Salt Spring Wild Cider
Every year, Salt Spring Wild gathers over 250,000 lbs of apples from properties all over Salt Spring in order to make their cider, which is sold all across BC. While all cider is made from fermented apples (though there is also a perry available, which is made from fermented pears), Salt Spring Wild adds a variety of other unique fruits and herbs which provide a diverse array of flavours. In addition to their plain ciders, there are ciders flavoured with plum, Saskatoon berry, apricot, and even a bitter orange rosemary. Single glasses or flights are best enjoyed in their beautiful restaurant, a renovated horse barn with a large covered patio overlooking the orchard below. Food options range from charcuterie and salads to filling burgers and fish and chips.
Unwind on Salt Spring Island’s Beaches
Salt Spring is an island after all, so there’s no better activity then heading out to to one of the many local beaches and watching a sunset or sunrise. You’ll probably see see several of the locals doing the same thing. Keep in mind though, there aren’t really any tropical sandy beaches on Salt Spring – they’re mostly pretty rocky. Vesuvius Beach has some of the warmest water on Salt Spring, and is also a popular sunset spot. Southey Point Beach is a serene little spot that has some cool rock formations at low tide. Bader’s Beach , Beddis Beach , Yeo Point Beach , Burgoyne Bay Beach , and Zach Beach are all other popular beaches worth checking out.
Catch a Sunset at the Fernwood Dock
You don’t have to be going on a fishing expedition to enjoy this 400ft dock stretching out into the Swanson Channel. It’s also one of the best sunset spots on Salt Spring Island, and the views across the channel towards Wallace and Galiano Island are sublime. It’s also just across the road from two of the best eateries on Salt Spring, making the dock perfect for a post-dinner stroll.
Learn About History at the Japanese Charcoal Kilns
Until the forced internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII, Salt Spring Island was home to a sizable Japanese population. By the time the war was over, all their houses and belongings had been seized and sold off by the government, and only one family ended up returning.
Two charcoal kilns built by Isaburo Tasaka in the early 1900s were rediscovered in Mouat Park in 2013, and have been lovingly restored. The process of making charcoal in Japanese charcoal kilns involves carefully controlling the air supply to smolder wood without burning it completely, requiring constant attention over three to five days. The charcoal produced here was used in various industries, including heating solder for salmon canneries on the Fraser River.
The short walk to the charcoal kilns is highly informative, and a fantastic way to learn a little about Salt Spring Island’s past.
Sweetwater Distilling Co.
David and Fiona Walls’s distillery has been a long time in the works, with both COVID and bureaucratic red tape providing setbacks on their five year journey to opening. Sweetwater joins BC’s first craft distillery, Merridale, in using apples as their base. (They consulted Laurent Lafuente, a veteran distiller who also helped establish Merridale’s distilling program.) Despite being the newest distillery in the region, they’re off to a head start with a lineup that includes a vodka, chrysanthemum gin, brandy, and a nocino. The distillery/tasting room is in a gorgeous converted barn located on the family’s idyllic 40-acre property. It’s a little out of the way from other more established Salt Spring attractions, but is nonetheless well worth the drive.
Ciderworks
In the mid-1890s, Salt Spring Island’s ideal mediterranean climate meant there were more fruit trees than residents, and the island became the largest commercial apple-producing area in British Columbia. While that’s no longer the case, plenty of 100 year old apple trees do survive spread around the island. Today, Ciderworks / Salt Spring Apple Co. is home to the only high density organic apple orchard on Salt Spring Island. Impressively, it’s home to over 450 apple varieties from around the world, and is certified organic. Obviously, that gives them tons of options to play with when it comes to making cider, and there’s a wide range of flavour here that can be largely attributed to the different varieties of apples used. The cozy and informal tasting room has a friendly atmosphere, and incredible views over both the orchard and Ganges Harbour.
Find the Drummond Park Petroglyph
Significant rock carvings created by Indigenous peoples, up to thousands of years old, can be found throughout the Pacific Northwest, though many end up eroded, defaced, or in private collections. Petroglyphs serve various purposes, including territorial markings, commemorating special events, and spiritual significance. The Drummond Park petroglyph, which depicts a seal, was found in 1963, and it’s been suggested that it and others may have stood on the seaward side of a non-submerged village site in Fulford Harbour.
Visit Salt Spring’s Lavender Farms
Salt Spring Island is home to not one but two boutique lavender farms. Sacred Mountain Lavender on the south end of the island covers seven acres and features over two thousand lavender plants, over 50 different varieties. Since 2001, they’ve produce a wide range of products, including essential oils, culinary lavender, and handcrafted goods like soaps and lotions. Lavender and Black on the northern end of Salt Spring Island grows organically certified lavender as well as helichrysum. and is the newer of the two farms. Along with lavender, they use wild harvested island botanicals such as lichen, moss, bark and berries and other ingredients to create essential oils, aromatherapy blends, elixirs and fragrances. Most importantly, both farms allow visitors to explore the oh-so-instagrammable lavender fields, and both farms also have lavender ice cream.
Salt Spring Brewing Co
While craft beer culture might be most commonly associated with cities like Victoria or Vancouver, it seems like every small BC community has at least one local brewery beloved by the locals, and Salt Spring Island is no exception. Salt Spring Brewing Co is a local staple that’s been operating since 1998, though in that time it’s changed names as well as hands – it’s now owned by Victoria-based Forbes Group. Head brewer Louis Hage whips up a variety of approachable styles that are delicious and fun, whether enjoyed in the cozy wooden tasting room or out on the beautiful outdoor seating area. (Just watch out for the stairs on your way out!) While you’re there, make sure to try one of their most unique beers – the Heather Ale, which is infused with local heather.
Get to know Salt Spring’s Nightlife
While most businesses do close up pretty early on Salt Spring, there are a few options for those looking to enjoy some drinks and live music into the evening. Mateada is the place to be for either cocktails or live music on Salt Spring. Check out a wide range of live performaces including everything from drum and bass to jazz to folk rock – every night from Thursday to Saturday. Meanwhile, The Local Pub and Moby’s Pub are slightly more blue-collar spots that both feature fantastic waterfront views and often have live music as well.
Discover Local Bakeries
In addition to the number of homemade baked goods that can be found at farm stands around the island, Salt Spring is also home to several of brick and mortar bakeries that are well worth visiting. Embe Bakery opens at 5:30 every morning, and I always stop in for one of their pastries to start my day when I’m on Salt Spring. Plus, they have really amazing deals on their day-old bread and pastries, making sure nothing goes to waste. Francis Bread uses grain milled in nearby Cowichan Bay to make their beloved sourdough and delicious pastries. It’s pretty hard to find proper flaky croissants in Canadian bakeries, but theirs are perfect. You might want to get here early though – on weekends this place consistently has a line out the door.
Salt Spring Kitchen Co.
Like many locally owned Salt Spring businesses, Salt Spring Kitchen Co. started off small by selling at the Saturday market. Nowadays their jams, preserves, and hot sauces can be found all across Canada, but remain a favourite especially amongst locals. The small tasting room and shop offers the opportunity to sample their wares, but it also stocks products from a number of other local businesses.
Explore Salt Spring’s saturday Market
There’s nothing more iconic to Salt Spring Island than its Saturday Market, which has been held in Centennial Park since the 1970s. With over 100 vendors regularly drawing visitors from off-island, this is the place where locals gather to sell their produce, baked goods, arts and crafts, and so much more. There are so many unique vendors that even if you’re a cheapskate like me you’ll find yourself bringing something home with you. Many of the small businesses that are now iconic to the island established themselves by first selling in the market, including the vast majority of those listed elsewhere in this article. It is not to be missed.
The Salt Spring Saturday Market typically runs from April to October, from 9am-4pm. If you’re visiting during the week, a Tuesday market runs from 1:30pm–5:30pm from June to October as well.
Salt Spring Soapworks
Salt Spring Soapworks has been a local staple since 1979, when Linda Quiring first began selling her soap in the Saturday Market. In fact, today it’s one of only two businesses that have been selling in the market for that many years, and has expanded from kitchen operation to a large production facility. In addition their Salt Spring location, there’ are now a Salt Spring Soapworks in Duncan as well as one in Victoria’s Chinatown . Their range extends beyond soaps to include items like bath bombs, body scrubs, lotions, and essential oils, all made locally and as sustainably as possible.
Hop on Hop Off Tour
If you’re not bringing a car onto Salt Spring, then getting around can be a bit more challenging especially if you want to see all the sights. Enter the Hop On Hop Off Bus, which takes visitors on a 28km loop from the Salt Spring Visitor Info Centre to Salt Spring Island Cheese, Sacred Mountain Lavender, Salt Spring Brewing Co, Garry Oaks Estate Winery, and Ciderworks. The service does need to be booked in advance, as it does sell out.
Check out Local Art Shops, Galleries, + Studios
One of the top things Salt Spring Island is known for is its amazing artist community. Not only are there some amazing shops which feature works from all the local artists and artisans, but its also possible to visit a number of the artists in their studios. I highly recommend visiting The Waterfront Gallery and The Pottery to shop work by hundreds of artisans from Salt Spring and the surrounding areas. For fine art check out Gallery 8 , Steffich Fine Art , and Salt Spring Gallery of Fine Art . I wasn’t able to visit too many artist studios but the two I was able to were fantastic. Mark Lauckner makes gorgeous (and sometimes humorous) glass sculptures out of waste glass from windows at The Glass Foundry . I also visited Gillian Gandossi Art Gallery & Studio which was full of just the most serene and beautiful coastal landscapes.
Browse the Shops of Ganges
Salt Spring island’s hub of Ganges is absolutely chock-full of cute little boutique shops with friendly owners and one-of-a-kind local products. Not only is it super fun to support these local independent businesses, but it’s a great way to bring home a souvenir that’s a bit more meaningful than a tacky ‘I Heart Salt Spring’ T-shirt made in China.
There are way too many amazing shops to list them all here, so your best option is just to wander around and discover for yourself. That said, some highlights include SALT Shop which sells sustainability-focused clothing and home goods, Osisi Boutique which features a number of West African-made items, Folk Stock & Trade for all kinds of handmade home goods, and Black Sheep Books for more books on any topic than you could possibly need.
Hike Salt Spring island’s Peaks
Salt Spring is not only the largest of the Gulf Islands – it’s also the tallest, with views from its highest peak Mount Bruce stretching out over the other islands. It’s also possible to drive most of the way up, before walking up to the summit. Baynes Peak looks out over the Burgoyne Valley on the way up but at the top expect stunning views over the water towards Stoney Hill and Mt Tzouhalem on Vancouver island. Mount Erskine is known for its stunning panoramic views to the west, making it particularly suited for sunsets. Other notable hikes include Reginald Hill , Hope Hill , Mount Tuam , the Chris Hatfield Trail , and perhaps several others waiting to be discovered?
Explore Ruckle Provincial Park
Ruckle Provincial Park on the southern end of Salt Spring is one of the largest provincial parks in the Gulf Islands. The land was originally owned by the Ruckle family, who farmed the area for just over a century until the land was donated and made a provincial park in 1974. The park is known for its beautiful coastline trail and many campsites, but also contains a working farm with preserved heritage buildings.
Try Local food
It feels almost trite and redundant for any local menu to emphasize their use of local ingredients and partnerships with other local producers because on Salt Spring that’s just the norm. From farm-fresh ingredients to friendly owners, Salt Spring eateries are doing things right. I’m avoiding listing off “the best” restaurants here because the truth is – you’d really have to struggle to find a bad meal. I’ve visited some of the eateries that grace those top ten lists, as well as some more unknown spots, and they’re all great. the most fun is walking around Ganges and discovering somewhere great for yourself.
Visit the Sheep at Sunset Farm
Sunset Farm is a Salt Spring Island farm known for its high-quality sheep wool products. The 300 acre farm produces raw fleece, yarn, and finished goods such as blankets and clothing, as well as lamb. Their website notes that they provided lamb for Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Victoria in the 1980s. The farm is also home to chickens, ducks, and goats, all of which are worth stopping to say hello to.
