Fieldy handles all communication and booking for you.
What it actually looks like
Photos from Big Qualicum Hatchery's website
No photographs published on Big Qualicum Hatchery’s site.
Our note
Nobody leads you round, so bring your own questions and work out the route before you arrive. The first two weeks of October are when the adult salmon are thickest, and April and May are when the young fish are in the channels. The hatchery says phone messages are not returned, so email if you want to know what is happening on a particular day, and remember the gates shut at 3 pm.
What the children do
You take yourselves around the hatchery and interpretive centre. There is a display room holding a topographical model of the Big Qualicum project, a viewing area that lets you watch the fish eye to eye, public washrooms, a picnic site and nature trails. The hatchery is open 7 am to 3 pm daily and the nearby walking trails can be used at any time. Nothing on the page says the visit has to be booked, and no price is given.
Walk the hatchery grounds past the raceways and earthen channels looking for salmon, then go into the display room to see a model of the whole river project. The viewing area puts them level with the fish. Outside there are nature trails to follow and a picnic site to stop at.
Good to know
Public washrooms, a picnic site and nature trails on the grounds, and a display room indoors. Nothing is published about a price, an age range, how many children can come or where a bus can park, so ring or email before you commit.
Washrooms
Public washrooms in the hatchery and interpretive centre.
Lunch space
A picnic site on the grounds, outdoors.
Rain backup
Needs confirmation
Strollers
Needs confirmation
Wheelchair access
Needs confirmation
Bus parking
Please access the hatchery via River Road. Do not park on Qualicum First Nation property or you may be towed. Follow River Road down to the hatchery parking lot.
Nearby park
Needs confirmation
Restrictions
Please access the hatchery via River Road. Do not park on Qualicum First Nation property or you may be towed