The land in the area was formed during the last ice age in North America, approximately 13,000 years ago, when receding glaciers carved a deep gouge into the earth, which became a number of small lakes and streams. Over time, these lakes rejoined the ocean, becoming a salt-water inlet known today as Portage Inlet and the Gorge waterway, a reversing tidal river.

4000 years ago, the Lekwungen, a Coast Salish tribe and ancestors of the modern Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations, settled in the area, calling the whole region "Camossung", after the legend of a girl they believed was turned to stone there.