Things to do in the Cowichan Valley

I was a little bit worried we would have trouble finding things to do in Cowichan, so I decided to put together a list. Turns out, I was wrong. There are tons of cool sounding things to do! Some of these may not be age-appropriate right now, and I’m sure there’s a lot of overlap, but I thought having a list would make it easy for me to be able to turn to it and find some ideas if we’re coming up short. We won’t get through the list the first year (and may never get to some of them), but hopefully it will help motivate us to try new things too instead of always turning to the tried and true and not giving anything else a chance.

Parks

1. Visit West Shawnigan Lake Provincial Park
2. Visit Cherry Point Nature Observation Park
3. Visit Bamberton Provincial Park
4. Hecate Park
5. Charles Hoey Park
6. Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park

Beaches

1. Visit Masons Beach Park
2. Visit Boatswain Bank
3. Visit Mill Bay Beach
4. Seawalk and Crofton Beach in Osborne Bay Regional Park
5. Visit Transfer Beach (perhaps on the train)
6. Botanical Beach

Hikes

1. Hike at Koksilah River Park
2. Climb Cobble Hill Mountain in Quarry Regional Wilderness Park
3. Hike at the Trans-Canada Trail Regional Park
4. Hike the Old Baldy Mountain Trail
5. Hike at Silvermine Park
6. Hike to Skutz Falls at the Cowichan River Provincial Park
7. Hike up Mount Tzouhalem
8. Visit Bright Angel Provincial Park
9. Hike up Mount Prevost (8 km!)

Day Trips

1. Take the ferry from Chemainus to Thetis Island and Kuper Island
2. Boat to Memory Island
3. Try local geocaching or letterboxing

Events

1. Polar Bear swim in Maple Bay (Jan 1st)
2. Watch the Cowichan Bay Rowing Regatta (April)
3. Maple Bay Wooden Boat Festival (May)
4. Children and Apple Pie Fair (May)
5. Cowichan Bay annual Boat Festival (June)
6. Take part in the “Festival of Murals” in Chemainus (last weekend of June)
7. Lavender festival – July
8. Islands Folk Festival – July
9. Duncan’s annual festival in July – Parade
10. Attend the Cobble Hill Fair in August
11. Attend the Art Affair in Mill Bay (August)
12. Celebration of Steam at the Forest Discovery Centre (August)
13. Cowichan’s yearly star-gazing party – August
14. Cowichan Exhibition in September
15. Fleece and Fibre Fair in October
16. Salmon and Mushroom Festival in October
17. Return of the Swans festival at Somenos Marsh – October
18. Winter Wonderland Carnival at Lake Cowichan in December
19. Ride the Christmas Express in December at the BC Forest Discovery Centre

Historic and Exhibits

1. Visit the Shawnigan Lake Museum
2. Tour Old Mill Park
3. See the Wooden Boat Society exhibit in Cowichan Bay
4. Visit the Kinsol Trestle
5. Visit the Genoa Bay Marina
6. Visit the Chemainus Valley Museum
7. Visit the BC Forestry Museum
8. Visit the Cowichan Valley Museum
9. Quw’utsun’ Cultural and Conference Centre
10. World’s Largest Hockey Stick and Puck
11. Duncan Garage Showroom
12. Visit the Old School House Museum in Crofton
13. Visit Providence Farm
14. Visit the Kaatza Station museum and Bell Tower
15. Ladysmith’s Black Nugget Museum
16. Visit Whippletree Junction
17. Visit Duncan’s heritage City Hall
18. Train station museum in Duncan
19. Heritage House Tour
20. View some old churches: Cowichan Station, St Ann’s on Tzouhalem Rd, St Peter’s
21. Cowichan Bay Maritime Museum

Nature

1. Watch the harbour seals in Satellite Channel
2. Visit Hecate Regional Park in the spring or fall to watch the birds along the Pacific Flyway
3. Bird watching at the mouth of the Koksilah and Cowichan Rivers
4. Visit the Somenos Marsh Wildlife Refuge in the winter to see the Trumpeter Swans
5. Visit the Pacific Northwest Raptors
6. Watch the salmon run at Rotary Park in the fall
7. Wildflower reserve on Quamichan Lake
8. Walk on the estuary at Cowichan Bay
9. Watch the fish ladder at Skutz Falls or Marie Canyon
10. Visit Mesachie Lake Wild Flower Reserve
11. Visit Freshwater Eco Centre and Trout Hatchery

Tours

1. Go on a child-friendly winery tour
2. Watch lumber being milled at the Weyerhauser Mill
3. Board a trolley or take a horse-drawn carriage around the murals in Chemainus
4. Self-guided tour and labyrinth at Damali Lavender Farm
5. Go whale watching
6. Visit the Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery
7. Self-guided or free tour of Duncan’s totem poles
8. Crofton’s pulp mill and paper-making facility and Japanese Garden
9. Historical tour of Duncan (from Cowichan Valley Museum)
10. Frederick’s Honey Farm and Apiary
11. Yellow Point Cranberries
12. Tour the Koksilah School
13. Tour an emu ranch
14. Tour an alpaca ranch
15. Artisan tour around Duncan
16. Tour Steel Pacific Recycling Depot
17. Visit Merridale Cidery orchard

Sports & Adventure

1. Tube along the Cowichan River – Tubes from Joe’s Tire Hospital or Canadian Tire
2. Take the train to or from Victoria or Ladysmith to Duncan
3. Ice skating at Kerry Park

Markets

1. Duncan Farmer’s Market – Saturdays
2. Cobble Hill Sunday Market

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