The Kinsol Trestle is a spectacular wooden trestle viaduct which carries the track bed of a former logging railway line from Victoria to Nootka Sound. The track bed now forms part of the Cowichan Valley Trail Route, so hikers, cyclists and horse-riders can now ride where steam engines once hauled logging trains. It is an excellent example of the type of bridges that once typified railways in the north west of both Canada and the USA. The structure was built in 1920: the line over it was begun by the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway in 1911, funded by the Canadian Western Lumber Company. Construction stalled, however, and was only restarted when Canadian National Railways took over in 1918. The trestle viaduct and line were completed in 1920, and trains ran until 1979. Thereafter, the viaduct became part of a walking trail, but deterioration of the structure meant a comprehensive restoration was required. Efforts to organise the work began in 2007 and it was reopened at a cost of nearly $ 6m in 2011. The Kinsol Trestle is one of eight trestles along the trail, but is by far the tallest and most spectacular. At 614 feet in length and standing 144 ft high, it is one of the tallest free-standing timber rail trestle structures in the world and the tallest in the Commonwealth. A path enables you to walk down and view the trestle from beneath.
