Butterfield Park is in the municipality of Central Saanich, that is part of the thirteen which form the Capital Regional District of British Columbia. Located on the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver Island, the 5.3 hectare parkland is a designated heritage site. The property was donated in nineteen eighty-eight to Central Saanich via Thetis Lake Nature Sanctuary by the Hilda Dorothy May Butterfield. Found at 8000 Thomson Place, or 1184 Mount Newton Road, Butterfield Park commemorates Captain John (Jack) Claude Butterfield and his spouse Gertrude Evelyn Flewin who purchased the property from Mr. William Thomson in nineteen thirteen. Captain Jack joined Cascade Freight and Trading Company on the Brentwood Bay Mill Bay ferry route until nineteen thirty and raised white leghorn poultry with his wife and daughter, Hilda. Their house was built to enjoy the views of the valley and the waters of Hagan Bight, Saanich Inlet. The drive way looped through the property and flowering trees, plum, cherry and apple, were planted; with a few surviving today. The flower and vegetable gardens are a wonderful display of wild and cultivated flowers and plants. Fawn lilies, violets, camas, bluebells, and calypso orchid and trillium flowers can be seen during the season. The seven hundred meter loop trail is a single pathway that is well trodden. It winds through the pastoral landscape and forested grounds. Arbutus, Douglas-fir, yew, Garry oak Western red cedar and big leaf maple trees provide shade over the understory of spring time flowers, sword ferns and small shrubs. The trail connects to Browns’ Trail via a seven step staircase. Butterfield Park on Mount Newton Cross Road at Thomson Place offers pleasant strolls in what was once the South Hill poultry farm. There is a resident caretaker. This is a good place to walk in your back yard.
Geographical location N48º 35’ 55” W 123º 27’ 1”
Butterfield Park can be reached from the Trans-Canada Highway, Highway One. Exit on to Mackenzie Avenue to reach Highway 17, the Pat Bay Highway. Continue along Highway 17 to reach Mount Newton Cross Road. Turn left onto Mount Newton Cross Road and follow along to reach Thomson Place. Turn right onto Thomson Place and look for the park on the left. There is a small parking lot. City busses travel to Saanichton along Mount Newton Cross Road.
https://www.centralsaanich.ca/our-community/history-heritage-sites/heritage-sites
Walks in Your Backyard 