Museums and history

Self-guided tour

McLean Mill National Historic Site9 hr 49 min by bus · 145 km

✓ Fits your group

Cost

$5 a child

$80 for 16 children

Kids 7 and under are free. Seniors 65 and over pay the same $5 as students.

Ages & size

Ages not published

Capacity not published

Duration

Length not published

Year round

Days not published

Book by

Not published

Plan this trip

Fieldy handles all communication and booking for you.

What it actually looks like

Photos from McLean Mill National Historic Site's website

Our note

No guide comes with you, and the route crosses a dam beside a log pond and goes through a working sawmill, so work out the adult count yourself. Children 7 and under go in free, which makes this the cheaper option for a young group. The site is shut for the season right now, so check it has reopened before you pick a date.

What the children do

During the staffed season, admission covers a self-guided walking tour. The site map is picked up at the Mill Store in the Admin Building, and a 24 stop heritage signage program runs through the site. Some of the heritage buildings are set up to go inside. Admission is $10 for adults 18 and over, $5 for students 8 to 17, $5 for seniors 65 and over, and free for children 7 and under. Self-guided tours are not available while the site is closed for the season.

Follow a paper map around the site at their own pace, reading the 24 numbered heritage signs and going into the heritage buildings that are open, from the office and cookhouse to the blacksmith shop and the bunkhouse. The path from the visitor area runs through second growth forest, crosses the dam beside the log pond and reaches the steam sawmill, where stairs lead up to a viewing gallery above the saws.

Good to know

Washrooms are in the rebuilt McLean house, the map is handed out at the Mill Store, and the visit is mostly outdoors across a large site. The staffed opening hours, indoor lunch space, rain backup and bus parking are not stated anywhere, so it is worth a call.

Sources disagree. Their pages give two different phone numbers for tour enquiries. One is 250-723-1376, the other is 250-724-6535 and is the one their home page gives for the off season. If one does not get answered, try the other, and email is the route they ask for anyway.

Washrooms

Except for the R.B. McLean house, that has been rebuilt as a modern facility and contains public washrooms, the other buildings have been partially restored. Access to indoor washrooms (during open hours, no showers). While the site is closed for the season the washrooms are closed.

Lunch space

Needs confirmation

Rain backup

Needs confirmation

Strollers

Needs confirmation

Wheelchair access

Back on the main path, stairs lead up to a viewing gallery running along the far side of the mill that allows safe viewing of the various processes even when the mill is operating. There is an elevator for those unable to climb the stairs.

Bus parking

Needs confirmation

Nearby park

Needs confirmation

Restrictions

Please obey all site signage for your safety.. Bring your furry friends (please keep them on leash on the site as there is a dog on the premises) and please pick up after your pets (that includes horses, too).. Please keep a SLOW respectful speed when passing through the site to ensure the safety of your fellow visitors.

Getting there

5633 Smith Road, Port Alberni, BC, V9Y 8M1

On foot

31 hr 32 min

too far with this group

By bus

9 hr 49 min

includes a 9 min wait

Driving

4 hr 36 min

The dark pin is Victoria.

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Details checked on 2026-09-20 against the venue’s own pages. Something wrong? , it takes one tap. · Venue page · +1 250-723-1376