Somenos Garry Oak Protected Area (SGOPA)
To access the SGOPA, take Trillium Terrace, off Lakes Road, to its end, then turn left on York and park at the dead end. As you walk down the wide gravelly trail the SGOPA is to your right, and on your left is Ye’yumnuts, a sacred ancestral place to the Quw’utsun people.
Cowichan presence here has over 2000 years of history and has deep connections to other places throughout Cowichan territory and far beyond. The SGOPA was used as a medicine gathering place and a place where Camas was ‘farmed’ and harvested. Cowichan oral memory and archaeological research shows that Ye’yumnuts is a sacred ancestral place that has a long history of use. If you wish to learn more about Ye’yumnuts please visit Commemorating Ye’yumnuts.
The SGOPA is home to three endangered plants as well as several rare plants and both shallow soil and deep soil Garry Oaks and is an important place for wildlife that use the area for food and cover. Please keep to the trails and walk dogs on a leash to protect the wildlife and rare wildflowers.
