Before You Go To Salt Spring Island
Book the ferry before anything else. BC Ferries runs to Fulford Harbour from Swartz Bay near Victoria, and to Long Harbour from Tsawwassen. Swartz Bay is the most common route if you're coming from Vancouver Island. Tsawwassen is the move if you're driving straight from the mainland. Either way, book at bcferries.com well before you go. Friday sailings fill up fast, especially in summer.
You need a car. Salt Spring has a handful of taxi options, and Ganges is walkable once you're in it, but this itinerary takes you all over the island, and you cannot do it without wheels.
Bring cash. Most businesses accept cards, but campsites, farm stands, and some market stands either prefer cash or only accept cash.
Pack layers. Gulf Island weather is famously unpredictable. Summer days can be amazingly hot, but evenings cool off fast, and it can be significantly cooler in the coastal breeze than in the middle of the island. A light jacket you can stuff in a bag is all you need.
Location Map
All locations mentioned in this blog are pinned here so you can visualize your trip!
Salt Spring Island Accommodation: A Complete Guide On Where to Stay (2026)
Click here for discounts and booking tips!Friday Morning: Taking the Ferry
A lot of the best trips in BC start in a BC Ferries lineup, and this long weekend is no exception. The ferry schedule from Tsawwassen to Long Harbour is not the most convenient.
If you're travelling at the start of the summer, (May 1 to June 24). There are only 3 sailings a day.
The earliest ferry gives us a bit more time on the island, but it is a much longer trip since it makes 3 stops on the way. So the afternoon non-stop sailing might actually be the better option.
Later in the year (June 25 to Sept 7), you have a few more options. The earliest only does one stop, and getting in at 10:40 is amazing because it really gives you the full day.
How our Friday shakes out depends a lot on the ferry we take, but for the sake of this itinerary, we're going to assume we're arriving at 10:40, which means we will be in Ganges before 11:00 AM. If you take a later ferry, you might need to cut down the first few things in our itinerary. You can check the up-to-date schedule here.
Friday Afternoon: A Wander Around Ganges
We'll kick the weekend off with a slow walk around Ganges before the Saturday market crowd descends. This is the best time to see the town at its most relaxed, and when shops are open, the streets are quiet, and you can actually browse without bumping into people every ten seconds.
Ganges is small and completely walkable, so just park once and wander. The main strip and the little laneways off it will keep you busy for a couple of hours easily, and you'd be surprised how much is tucked away down side streets and back alleys.
For shopping, a few spots worth ducking into:
- Mouat's is a Salt Spring institution that's been open since 1907 and sells all kinds of outdoor and lifestyle gear that makes you want to move here permanently.
- Thrive is a great stop for ethically sourced clothing, home goods, and skincare.
- Twang and Pearl is worth checking out for its bohemian home goods and gifts.
- Fever Tree is tucked behind Mouat's Mall and has a nice collection of statement pieces and interesting kitchenware.
For coffee or a light bite:
- Switchboard Café is a quirky spot on a side street with good specialty coffee, solid baked goods, and an outside patio that's hard to leave on a nice afternoon.
- The Waterfront Country Café is another good option if you want to sit somewhere with a view over Ganges Harbour.
If you're hungry enough for a proper lunch before dinner:
- Cassette is a fun, casual spot set in a former 1950s gas station with good fried chicken sandwiches and a patio that works well for a group.
- Or keep it simple with one of the food trucks in town. Kitchen Kodama does Japanese, and Pura Vida does poke bowls and smoothies if you want something light.
You could easily spend all afternoon wandering and shopping in Ganges, but if you're a quick shopper, you might run out of steam after an hour or so. If that's the case, before we head to dinner, we've got a few options depending on what kind of afternoon you're feeling.
- Salt Spring Island Cheese is a short drive out of Ganges and worth the detour even if you're not a cheese person. It's a working goat farm with a little outdoor café that opens up in summer, where you can order pizza made with their own chevre and sit at a picnic table watching actual goats do their thing in the paddock behind you. Stock up on cheese to bring home while you're there. Make sure you check that the farm and cafe are open before you go. They close down operations seasonally.
- Cusheon Lake is a small, warm, and lovely lake a few minutes outside of Ganges. It's not as big as St. Mary, but it heats up fast in summer, and the swimming is excellent. If the afternoon is warm and we've got energy to burn before dinner, this is my pick. There's a small public access point with a large wooden dock, and the water is clean and calm. Going to dinner with your hair still drying from a lake dip is exactly the BC summer vibe we're going for with this 3-day itinerary.
- The Salty Pear is the move if you want to slow the afternoon down completely. They've got a wood-fired barrel sauna tucked into an orchard of heritage apple and pear trees, with views into the forest on all sides. It's a beautiful setting and about as Salt Spring as anything on this list. Fair warning, though: this is not a spa. It's a DIY cooperative situation, which means you show up, chop kindling, load the firewood, and light your own fire. Your two-hour session includes the time it takes to get the sauna up to temperature and leave it clean for the next group. There's a cold water shower outside, no staff on site, and you need to bring your own towels and water. If that sounds like more effort than you want on a holiday, I get it. But if you're up for it, there's something satisfying about setting up your sauna the old-fashioned way, and the orchard setting makes it that much more peaceful. Book ahead online, because spots go fast on summer weekends, and this one has a bit of a cult following among people who've been before.
Friday Late Afternoon/Evening: Dinner at the Treehouse Café
If you had to take a later ferry, this might be your first stop on the island, but that's okay because this one is iconic. Treehouse Cafe is a little outdoor restaurant built around an enormous plum tree in the middle of Ganges, with fairy lights strung through the branches and live music most evenings in summer. The menu is casual and covers a lot of ground with globally inspired comfort food made with local ingredients, but what you're really here for is the vibe.
Order something to eat, get a drink, and settle in. If you hit a night with a really good act, you'll end up staying longer than you planned. That's fine. That's exactly what you're supposed to do on the first evening of a trip like this.
Tables fill up fast on Friday evenings in summer, so arrive early or be prepared to wait. It's worth it either way.
Friday Evening: Sunset at Vesuvius Bay
After dinner, we're driving out to Vesuvius Bay to catch the last of the light. It's a short drive from Ganges, and the payoff is huge. Vesuvius faces west across Stuart Channel toward Vancouver Island, which means the sunsets here are world-class.
The beach itself is a small, sandy, protected bay that is a great swim spot at high tide. Parking is free roadside parking near the short path down to the beach, so it's nice and easy to bring down some camp chairs or any picnic supplies you might want to bring.
Saturday Morning: Salt Spring Saturday Market
Saturday on Salt Spring means one thing above everything else, and that is the Saturday Market in Centennial Park. This is one of the best farmers' markets in BC. It's been running for decades, and the rule is that everything sold here must be made or grown on Salt Spring Island. That means produce, cheese, baked goods, ceramics, live plants, hot food, woodwork, and all of it made by people who live here, most of whom are genuinely interesting to talk to.
Go hungry and go early. The good stuff, especially the baked goods and the prepared food, goes fast. Don't eat a big breakfast before this, because we're going to graze our way through the market and take advantage of every free sample offered our way. Bring cash as a backup. Most vendors take cards, but some prefer cash, and you don't want to miss out on something good over a tap payment.
The market is huge, and every stand is somehow completely unique. There is a bigger focus on crafts and artisans than on local produce, but the artistic work of the locals is wildly impressive.
If you're staying in Ganges, consider just walking in from your accommodation, because parking in town on a Saturday is like the Hunger Games. If you're staying out of town and driving in for the market and you've already circled every parking lot 5 times without finding a spot, head up to the end of Seaview Ave. There is some free roadside parking and free trailhead parking here, and it's less than a 10-minute walk from here to the market.
Saturday Late Morning: Brunch at Francis Bread
What we do for brunch really depends on how much we ate at the market, but regardless, the next stop is Francis Bread, which is just outside of Ganges. It's a small bakery doing excellent pastries and really good coffee.
There is often a line out the door, especially on a Saturday, but really, that's just a sign that we've found the right spot. If we didn't eat too much at the market, we could grab one of their incredible sandwiches, and if we're already quite full, we can just pick up some coffee and a big chunk of focaccia for later.
They have some picnic tables outside and limited seating inside, and it's an order at the counter and help yourself to a seat if there is one available kind of place, rather than a sit-down restaurant with menus and servers.
Saturday Midday: Fernwood Dock
Once we've fought our way to the front of the bakery line and got the goods, we will head to one of the most iconic spots on the north of the island: Fernwood Dock. By now, we've probably seen this in several paintings at the market and on a few postcards at the shops on Friday.
This is the long wooden red pier stretching out into the water with views across to the mainland mountains on a clear day. There's a good amount of parking and a cute little café right by the dock, which makes it an easy and pleasant stop. The beach on either side of the pier is a long rocky stretch with some seaweed, so it's not ideal for swimming, but it's one of the most scenic spots on the island for a walk and a coffee.
Saturday Afternoon: Swim at St. Mary Lake
Fernwood is iconic, but not actually a great place for a dip. So after we soak in the views, we will head over to St. Mary Lake: one of the best swim spots on the island.
St. Mary is the largest lake on Salt Spring, and in July and August, it gets nice and warm (at least compared to the ocean).
The public access point is by the north end of the lake, and there are about a dozen free parking spots on the wide gravel shoulder. There isn't really a beach here. It's more of a wide grassy slope leading down to the water.
There is enough space for everyone to spread out, and the light stays on this part all afternoon and evening, but is shaded earlier in the day.
Last time we were here, the whole park was swarmed by local kids and their families, but the time before that, we had the whole place to ourselves. Either way, we probably won't be fighting other tourists for a parking spot at this one.
Saturday Late Afternoon: Wild Cider
After the lake, we're going to Wild Cider. It's a small craft cidery tucked away on a farm property, and it fits the Salt Spring aesthetic completely: relaxed, local, surrounded by trees, and making some damn good cider. The ciders are made from BC apples and rotate seasonally, so every time you visit, there is something new to try.
They have indoor seating and an outdoor patio where there is proper menu/server restaurant service, but you can also just order some ciders at the bar and take them out back to the picnic tables set up in the Orchard. Personally, this is my preference because the views down into the valley and across to the mountains from here are nearly as good as the cider.
After the cidery, we are going to head out for our sunset hike, so either grab a bit to eat before you go, or make sure to check the hours of wherever you're eyeing up in Ganges will be open when you get there. BC sunsets in the late summer are a lot later than some people realize!
Saturday Evening: Hike Mount Erskine
Next up is one of the best sunset spots on the island, but I'll be honest with you, this one takes a bit more effort than our beach visit yesterday.
Mount Erskine is Salt Spring's signature hike, and for good reason. It's challenging enough to feel like a proper workout but short enough to be a quick morning mission or an epic sunset spot.
There are a few ways you can get to the summit. The much easier way is to follow the Mount Erskine Loop on AllTrails. This trail starts from a big roundabout at the end of a residential road where you can park. This route starts you off quite high, whereas some other routes you're hiking all the way, starting from sea level.
Trail Map
You can follow the AllTrails route to the summit, and it's pretty straightforward, but I did a little exploring around the trail network, and I think there is a detour worth pursuing. Take a look at the AllTrails map and zoom in, and you can see that each trail segment is numbered. It has you going up #1, connecting with #2 up to the summit, then following 2 back down to your car.
If you look for where the #1 branches off to #4, that's the detour we want. If you follow #4, it will take you to a lookout that is slightly lower than the true peak, but it actually has significantly better views. It has fewer obstructions, and there will be a much better spot for photos. It's not that out of the way either. From the end of #4, you can easily connect up #3 to merge back onto #2 and follow the AllTrails all the way to the peak.
| Distance | Elevation | Time | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.8 km | 214 m | 1.5 h | loop | moderate |
The trail itself is wide, well-marked, and easy to follow. Overall, it's a bit steep, but it's a short one. If you don't hike at all, this might be a bit of a challenge, but just take it slow and drink lots of water, and anyone should be able to make it to the top. If you hike even a little bit, you will probably find this to be a quick, fun walk.
Sunday Morning: Breakfast at Switchboard Cafe
Another morning on Salt Spring means another cute cafe. Switchboard is one of the best breakfast spots on the island. They do amazing coffee and offer a wide variety of baked goods and classic breakfast options. Be warned, though, they no longer do burritos. You can see an extensive burrito menu on Google Maps, but this is outdated, and they no longer offer them. Just giving fair warning so you don't get disappointed like we did on our last visit.
They have some great outdoor seating options, so we will take our time and practise the slower island pacing that we've been surrounded by all weekend.
Sunday Late Morning: Ruckle Park Shoreline Trail
After breakfast, we're driving out to Ruckle Provincial Park on the southeastern tip of the island, which is, in my opinion, the single most underrated thing on Salt Spring. Ruckle is BC's largest marine heritage park, and it has a working heritage farm that has been continuously farmed since the 1870s, which you pass right through to reach the shoreline.
There is a huge campsite right along the shore here. On our next trip, maybe we will just camp here, not worry about hustling all over the island. But for now, we are just here for one of the best coastal walks on the island.
Ruckle Park Shoreline Trail is one of the best hikes on the island. It starts from the campsite and follows the coast all the way up to King's Cove before looping back through the Ruckle farm. The whole way along the coast, you will be passing by amazing viewpoints and a dozen or so small beaches. Unfortunately, we did this hike on our last morning on the island, so we didn't have time to stop at any of the beaches, but next time, I think we will dedicate a full day to just beach hoping along this trail.
If you want to extend this hike, instead of following the AllTrails, which loops back into the farm, you can continue on up all the way to Yeo Point. This is another great viewpoint next to one of the nicest pebble beaches on this part of the coast.
The trail itself is a pretty easy hike. There are a few hills to go up and down, but it's mostly a flat seaside stroll. There are a dozen or so hidden beaches you will pass. Some are just pretty to look at, and others beg you to stop for a moment or even to take a dip.
If you loop back through the farm, you will be walking along fenced-in areas, so your chances of seeing animals grazing along the way are high. The animals move around, and the farm puts them in different fields all the time, so I can't guarantee what you will see or if there will be any out when you pass by. But hey, if there is even a small chance of seeing some sheep, goats, or highland coos, I'll roll those dice.
Sunday Midday: Fulford Harbour for Snacks
On the way back from Ruckle, we're swinging through Fulford Harbour, the small village at the southern end of the island where the ferry comes in from Swartz Bay. It's tiny, but it's got some quintessential Salt Spring character.
We can do a quick wander of town (this won't take long because it's tiny) and then pick up snacks from the general store. They have a ready-to-go section with sandwiches and samosa-type food, but they also have a pretty fully stocked store, so you could actually put together quite the charcuterie board if you felt so inclined.
We'll grab whatever we feel will complement the beach the best and then head on to our next stop.
Sunday Afternoon: Beddis Beach
Next up is one last swim before we leave. Beddis Beach is a long curve of sand and pebble on the southeastern side of the island with calm water, arbutus trees hanging over the shoreline, and a relaxed local vibe that will make us question if we really want to leave today.
It's one of the nicer beaches on Salt Spring and my personal favourite one for swimming, so it is a fitting way to spend the last hours of the trip.
Parking here is easy and free, with lots of roadside spots right next to the shore sandy path that leads down to the beach.
On a really clear day when the visibility is near perfect, look across the water and past the mountains on the horizon, and you can actually see the snowy peak of Mount Baker, making the mountains in the foreground look teeny tiny.
Sunday Late Afternoon: Farm Stand Hopping
Our last activity on Salt Spring might be the most iconic. There are dozens of farm stands along the roads scattered all across the island. These stands all sell local products, but they are all incredibly unique.
Eggs. Honey. Fresh bread. Garlic. Lavender. Flowers. Goat milk soap. Even fresh tofu! The signs are everywhere once you start noticing them, and most of the stands are completely unstaffed and have just a cooler, a table, a price list, and a jar for cash and coins. It runs entirely on the honour system, which feels perfectly in line with the island's vibe.
Check out the map below for all the locations and plan out what you're going to pick up to bring home.
Sunday Evening: Catching the Ferry
We will have booked our sailing ahead of time to be sure we won't miss our ride home, and we will aim to be in the ferry line-up about 45 minutes before the sailing time.
Similar to the way in, the schedule changes a bit from the early summer to the late summer.
We will take the last ferry regardless of the schedule, and they all make stops at Galiano on the way back, so the ferry will be a bit longer than our ride in.
Early in the summer (May 1st to June 24th), the latest ferry is at 6:55 pm.
Later in the summer (June 25 to Sept 7) the latest ferry gets pushed back to 7:30pm.
The latest ferry gets us back to the mainland a bit late, but I think it's well worth it to let us soak up some sun at Beddis and load up on farm stand goodies before getting back to 'real life.'
Planning Your Trip
When to Visit? Summer (July to August) is peak season with the best weather, the most events, and the longest days, but also the most people and the hardest time to get ferry reservations. Book everything further in advance than you think you need to.
Shoulder season (May, June, September) is my favourite time. The weather is still largely cooperative, the crowds thin out considerably, and the whole island feels a little more like itself. The Saturday Market runs from April through October, so you won't miss out on the main event. June can be stunning.
Winter is quiet and has a particular brooding Gulf Island atmosphere that some people love. Just know that some spots scale back their hours or close entirely, and the ferry schedule thins out.
Do You Need a Car? Yes. Absolutely. Ganges is walkable once you're in it, but this itinerary takes you to Fernwood, Ruckle, Beddis, and various farm stands spread across the island. You cannot do this without your own vehicle. Rent one before you get on the ferry.
Ferry Reservations
Book at bcferries.com. Friday sailings and Sunday evening sailings fill up fast in summer. Don't leave this until the week before.
Final Thoughts
This is a jam-packed 3-day plan, but you will love every minute of it. Even while waiting in line at the bakery, you still get the amazing scents from the forest blowing by you and the hot summer sun on your skin, cooled by a breeze carrying some of the crisp ocean air inland.
If this is too fast paced for you and you want to spend a bit more time lounging in your hotel's hot tub, or having a slow morning on the porch with your book, feel free to pick and choose suggestions from this list and draft up a plan that is designed perfectly for you, and if you want some more help planning, you can check out our comprehensive guide that covers everything there is to see and do on Salt Spring.
The island is laid back, beautiful, and absolutely packed with things to see and do. What more could you ask for? As lovely as it is, there are some downsides.
- You do need to take a ferry to get there. If you want a ferry-free trip, consider a road trip through the Sea to Sky corridor.
- Salt Spring has nice beaches, but not the best in the province. The Sunshine Coast and Tofino have Salt Spring beat if you're only after a beach day.
- The ferry schedule makes it hard to do Salt Spring as a day trip. If you want a better day trip option with similar island community vibes, consider a day trip to Bowen Island.
- There are a few great hikes on Salt Spring, but they are pretty quick and easy compared to some of the more ambitious alpine treks around BC. If you want more of a challenging hike, consider Tin Hat Hut, Wedgemount Lake, Watersprite Lake, or Joffre Lakes.
- A lot of things covered in this blog rely on you having a car. If you're looking for a car-free itinerary, check out our Car Free Guide to Bowen Island.
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