The Koksilah River (Xwulqw’selu Sta’lo’, Watershed) is located south of Duncan on Vancouver Island and lies within the traditional territories of Cowichan Tribes, Malahat Nation and other First Nations.
It originates on the slopes of Waterloo Mountain, southwest of Shawnigan Lake and flows eastward for approximately 44 km before discharging into the Cowichan/Koksilah estuary. The watershed area is approximately 302 square kilometres. The main tributaries of the Koksilah River are Fellows Creek in the west, and Kelvin, Patrolas, Howie and Glenora creeks, which enter the Koksilah about 4-6 km upstream of the estuary in Cowichan Bay, which it shares with the Cowichan River.
The Cowichan and Koksilah Rivers were historically connected through side-channels where Duncan is currently situated. Sh-hwuykwselu (which translates loosely to “Busy Place”) was a historical connection and intersection between the two rivers where people gathered before continuing up the Cowichan or Koksilah rivers. Today the place name Sh-hwuykwselu is still carried by a small lower tributary of the Koksilah River, and the name Xwulqw’selu is the name of a Cowichan village nearby.
This undeveloped 210-hectare park offers good hiking, fishing, swimming, canoeing and kayaking while you spend the day picnicking in the scenic surroundings of the Koksilah River and Canyon.
We liked to visit at least once on a hot day in the summer and find a nice rock for a picnic and the chance to read for an afternoon.
The nearby Kinsol Trestle, just outside the eastern boundary of the park, is an historic site well worth visiting and is now open to the public for cyclists, hikers and equestrians to experience the full Cowichan Valley Trail in the Cowichan Region.
Originally constructed as a railway trestle in 1920 and partially rebuilt several times over the years, the trestle was abandoned when the rail line closed in 1979. It stood unused for almost 30 years until it was rehabilitated for recreational trail use beginning in 2008.
The photo below is when we visited the first time in 2007 before rehabilitation began.
The Kinsol Trestle is one of eight trestles along the Cowichan Valley Trail route and by far the largest and most spectacular. It is one of the tallest free-standing and most spectacular timber rail trestle structures in the world at 187 metres in length and standing 44 metres above the salmon bearing Koksilah River.
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