Cycle Touring Cowichan Lake & SW Vancouver Island

Area Rides & Campgrounds

This is really 2 areas of South Vancouver Island that I've combined into one, as they are connected by a web of routes through the grand hinterland in between Cowichan Lake & the SW Coast. 

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Cowichan Lake is a hub for countless fantastic rides. From near Duncan on the Island Highway (about halfway between Nanaimo and Victoria), it's about 30kms, gradually climbing west up several hundred metres, to reach the town of Cowichan Lake and the east end of the lake. To get there you can either ride secondary Hwy 28, or (and this is totally brilliant!) several segments of the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT), as the Trans Canada Trail is locally known. 

The lake is big: 75kms+ to ride around, paved only near the east end on both the south & north shores. There are all sorts of camping options: provincial campgrounds, a town campground, several private campgrounds and at least a half dozen Rec campsites. And there are lots of great backroads heading off north, west or south. 

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Ride the SW Coast, from Sooke (west of Victoria) west along the West Coast Road as far as Port Renfrew. There's drop dead gorgeous scenery, some great trails, top camping options, and lots of backroads (and one paved route) heading north towards Cowichan Lake. 

Below is a summary map, with buttons for Cowichan Lake & SW Isle Fav rides and campgrounds. Look close and you'll see that the ride buttons are blue with blue shading, and the campground buttons are green with green shading. The map ropes together a lot of content:

• Rides include all Fav rides for all, along with Fav backroads rides out to remote areas, and finally the overflow page, 'Honourable Mention rides'. 

• Campgrounds include all Fav Campgrounds, along with the overflow page of 'Honourable mentions'. 

Under the map, the rides and the campgrounds are listed alphabetically, with links to the pages or summaries for each. This gives you a geographic overview of southern options you'll find within this website, and links to follow if you wish. 

Early in the 1900s, Lake Cowichan was a logging hub (see more on the town and nearby camping via the linked page below). The area has gone through challenges as mills close and forests dwindle. Today, the village of Lake Cowichan has a population of ~3,000. Youbou (north shore) - under 1,000. Port Renfrew along the SW coast - several hundred. Logging remains the main economic driver, but tourism and recreation (including cottages & retirement homes) are playing a growing role. Along the SW coast, towns such as Sooke increasingly serve as bedroom communities for nearby Victoria.  

Pics in the collage above are from the town of Cowichan Lake: top left from the lakeside park in front of the downtown museum & Tourist Centre. Top right - the 'Western Terminus' of the Cowichan Valley Trail. Lower left shows old St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Church. Bottom right shows a town park beside the downtown library. 

In the summer, the Cowichan area is a swimmers' (and tubers') paradise. From the collage below: Top left - along the Cowichan River; top right - Bear Lake Park in Mesachie; bottom left - family beach at popular Gordon Bay Provincial campground; and, bottom right - more tubing along the Cowichan River, this time with the pic taken from the bridge right in town.

If you come this way in the hot summer, be sure to leave yourself time for some swimming. Or rent tubes in town. 

The clip below is from Jordan River Regional Campground along the SW Coast (a favourite campground). I've been by there a few times now, including several times in winter. There's always a little colony of surfers, often out for big waves at first light. Basic campsite, but great place to camp and meet some interesting folks. 

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This was an experiment with video on my website. Not sure yet whether I'll plan to add more, but it's good to see the platform makes it possible.