Road trip

Route 5 · Cowichan River & Lake

Driving: ≈ 130 km, 2 h 30 behind the wheel
Day: Full day
Terrain: Highway 18 and lakeside roads; some gravel
Season: Jun–Sep for swimming and tubing; Oct for colour

Schematic map of the route with numbered stops — Open this route in Google Maps ↗Schematic map; numbered stops match the list below. The link gives turn-by-turn directions.

Inland to the freshwater side of the valley: a forestry museum with a working railway, a river famous among fly-fishers, a lake town, and warm-water beaches that are the summer alternative to the ocean.

BC Forest Discovery Centre — A 100-acre open-air forestry museum with 2.5 km of operating narrow-gauge railway, historic logging equipment, a 1920s logging camp and lakeside trails. Seasonal; check hours.
Skutz Falls & Marie Canyon — Cowichan River Provincial Park: a short walk to the falls and fish ladder, with trailheads for the Cowichan River Footpath. Salmon run in October and November.
Lake Cowichan — Kaatza Station Museum in the old railway station covers logging and rail history. Lunch at a lakeside café; The Tube Shack rents tubes and runs a shuttle for the 2–3 hour river float in summer.
Gordon Bay Provincial Park — Sandy beach and swimming on the south shore, with picnic tables under the firs. Honeymoon Bay's small village and the Honeymoon Bay Wildflower Reserve (spring) are next door.
Youbou — A former mill town on the north shore with a quiet beach and views down the lake. Return along the north shore to Highway 18 and home in about 45 minutes.