Qualicum Beach and the Strait of Georgia

View maps of the area:
Map of Parksville and Qualicum Beach
Map of Parksville and Powell River
Map of Central Vancouver Island
Map of South Vancouver Island

• Arts and crafts abound in the area, which is home to painters, weavers, sculptors, carvers, glass blowers, and other artisans who welcome visitors to their studios. The Old School House Art Centre, in the heart of Qualicum Beach, exhibits creations by local artisans, as well as holding frequent workshops, classes, and concerts. Pick up a brochure and map of the local galleries that are open to the public for tours and visits, available from the Tourist Information Centre.

• Bear and Thunderbird totem, Qualicum Beach promenade

  For live theatre fans, the Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach offers shows in both summer and winter. Many of these productions are put on by the resident ECHO Players, who specialize in musicals and lighter fare.

• The Power House Museum has a growing collection of "powerful" artifacts. You can test your own power on the Power Cycle and turn on the lights! Other displays highlight family histories, the E&N Railway, logging and carpentry, woodworking and blacksmithing tools, early hydro power, rooms depicting early Qualicum pioneer home life, and storyboards recording early settlement history. Learn about early Georgia Strait shipwrecks, and examine antique golf paraphernalia. Open late May to mid September, adjacent to the Qualicum Beach train station at 587 Beach Road.

• Take a journey into our prehistoric past at the Vancouver Island Paleontology Museum, which displays one of the most complete collections of Vancouver Island fossils, featuring fossils from all over British Columbia and the world. The star of the museum is Rambling Rosie, a 70,000-year-old adult female walrus fossil discovered just 10 km north of Qualicum Beach in 1979. Open late May to mid September in the Power House Museum complex.

• The Fire & Ice Street Festival is the premier May event in Qualicum Beach, attracting more than 6,000 local and out-of-town visitors. Teams compete to prepare and serve up the ultimate chili in the Chilli Cook Off (Fire), while over at Ice Carving, ice-carvers compete to create block-ice sculptures (Ice). Enthusiastic kids display their carving prowess in jello! Festivities include street entertainment (music, dancing and buskers), and the awards ceremony.

• Milner Gardens and Woodland offers the magic of 28 hectares (70 acres) of unspoiled natural beauty perched on the edge of an oceanside bluff overlooking the Strait of Georgia. Stroll the winding pathways and magical surroundings of an ancient coastal Douglas fir forest. Find peace and tranquility as you meander 4 hectares (10 acres) of woodland gardens lined with rhododendron, cyclamen and trilliums and other indigenous plants. Enjoy a traditional English tea service while you contemplate the history of the unique heritage house where Queen Elizabeth once stayed.

• The Heritage Forest of Qualicum Beach protects 50 acres of Coastal Douglas Fir forest, including a significant stand of trees over 300 year old, complete with forest trails and a salmon-bearing stream. Thousands of visitors annually walk the bark mulch trails of the forest, which is relatively undisturbed by human activity, and marvel at the pristine wilderness. Formerly known as the Brown property, the forest is located only minutes from the centre of Qualicum Beach.

• Hamilton Marsh provides natural habitat for marsh birds and is particularly active in spring and fall with migrations of ducks and geese. Woodland trails from the small parking lot lead you to and around the marsh, with a viewing platform for closer observation of marsh inhabitants. The privately-owned Hamilton Marsh (360 hectares) is surrounded by second-growth forest, and is the most productive waterfowl breeding marsh in the central Vancouver Island area. The marsh is located approximately 10 minutes drive due south of Qualicum Beach, on South Hilliers Road, just off the Alberni Highway 4.

• The annual Brant Wildlife Festival celebrates the migration of up to 20,000 Black Brant geese from California and Mexico to their breeding grounds in Alaska. The beaches around Parksville and Qualicum Beach have been the site of an annual migration of tens of thousands of brant geese since well before the settlement of the towns. With the establishment of the Brant Goose Feeding Area by the Mid Island Wildlife Watch Society, the arrival of the geese triggers annual festivities in mid April. By then, thousands of the black-hued, duck-size sea geese touch down on the beaches and marshlands surrounding Parksville and Qualicum to rest and feed on the algae, eel grasses, seaweeds, and especially herring roe. Most of the migrating birds are travelling to the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta of western Alaska, arriving at their Arctic breeding grounds in early May. Guided tours of the feeding areas take visitors to special viewing locations, or you can simply walk out on the beach with a pair of binoculars and stalk them (and the more than 200 other bird species passing through at the same time).

• Golf: There are no less than 6 world-class golf courses in the Qualicum Beach area, and the pleasant, sunny climate means play continues year-round. Select from the Arrowsmith Golf & Country Club, Eaglecrest Golf Club, Glengarry Golf Links, and the Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Course. Golf Vacations on Vancouver Island.

• Horseback Riding: The Parksville area offers many opportunities to explore the backcountry of Vancouver Island on horseback. Outfitters in the area offer instruction as well as short trail rides and overnight excursions. From alpine meadows to wooded trails, or riding on the sandy beaches, horseback riding will give you a unique perspective of this beautiful region.

• Fishing: Teeming with halibut, cod and salmon, the Strait of Georgia is a haven for salt water anglers, while trout fishing is popular at several nearby lakes and rivers. Fishing charters are available in the area. Check out the waters off French Creek, just south of Qualicum Beach on Hwy 19A, rumoured to be a great spot to hook the big one. Kids enthusiastically cast their lines off the dock, hoping for their own vacation story to tell. The annual fall salmon run at the mouth of French Creek, as it enters the Strait of Georgia, attracts anglers to the French Creek Marina and the public boat launch adjacent to the federal dock and Lasqueti Island ferry.

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