Parks & Trails
Parks
The Municipality of North Cowichan offers residents and visitors 77 diverse parks to visit. This accounts for nearly 239 hectares of maintained parkland plus an additional 5,301 hectares of non-parkland within the Municipal Forest Reserve. Together the parks and the Municipal Forest Reserve represent approximately 25.8% of the Municipal area. Within these parks, residents and visitors can access a diverse range of sport, play, and other recreational amenities.
Park Finder
Click here to find one of our off-leash dog parks, sportsfields, playgrounds, and water accessible parks.
If skateboarding or scootering is more of your thing, be sure to visit either the Gerry Hurst Skate Park (Crofton), Chemainus Skate Park (beside Chemainus Secondary School) or the Duncan Skate Park (next to the Cowichan Aquatic Centre) to explore the combination and variety of street style park features such as half pipes, mini-ramps, rails and bowls.
Park Hours
The Municipality of North Cowichan parks are open from dawn to dusk except for the following parks:
- Art Mann
- Kaspa parking lot
- Nevilane parking lot
- Somenos Creek open air classroom
Park Safety
All parks are open from dawn to dusk unless otherwise posted. Park gates will be closed and locked around 10:00pm (except Art Mann) and reopen at approximately 6:00am the next day. Any vehicles left in the park lots after park hours are subject to fines of $100 as per bylaw 3626. Parks _and_Public _Places_Regulation_Bylaw. While enjoying the parks, please respect the following:
- All pets must be leashed (unless otherwise posted)
- Please clean up after you pet
- Stay on designated trails or pathways
- Please use litter bins
- Treat wildlife with respect and never approach
- Leave all natural materials in place as is (includes trees, flowers and plants)
- Adhere to posted signage and park regulations.
Respectful Spaces
The Council approved Respectful Spaces Bylaw ensures that our parks and recreational facilities provide a safe and inclusive environment for people to enjoy. Residents and visitors alike have the right to be free of harassment, bullying, intimidation, violence and discrimination while visiting these areas and are to be treated with mutual respect and dignity. Should you observe any of these above behaviours, please contact bylaw services at 250-746-3108 or call 911 if it is an emergency.
Park Bookings
Planning an event, gathering or outing? Contact our parks booking department at 250-746-3169 to check availability and to reserve your space. Park use permits are required for large formal activities or for businesses looking to conduct activities within our parks systems.
