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Nature and outdoors

Drinkwater Dock visit

Somenos Marsh Wildlife Societydistance not known
✓ Fits your group
A raised wooden boardwalk with railings turns a corner and runs out through tall marsh grass and low shrubs, with an orange railed section further along and a wooded hill under grey cloud beyond.
Cost
Free
no cost at all
Ages & size
Ages not published
Capacity not published
Duration
Length not published
Year round
Days not published
Book by
Not published
Plan this trip
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What it actually looks like

Photos from Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society's website
Our note
This is a dock and a walkway, not a trail system, so it is a short stop and works best paired with the marsh site up the road. Children will be right at the edge of open water with no fence, so plan for more adults than you would need on the boardwalk. Nothing is published about a washroom or a car park here.

What the children do

A second, separate spot on Somenos Lake, at the far end of Drinkwater Road past the BC Forest Discovery Centre. The society built it in 2007 and gifted it, along with the information kiosk, to the Municipality of North Cowichan, and it still maintains the area. It is an elevated walkway out to a floating dock. Nothing is booked and no one guides you, and it is roughly ten minutes drive from the Open Air Classroom rather than part of the same site.

Walk out along a raised walkway onto a floating dock on the lake, look for birds on the water, and fish from the dock if they bring their own gear. Canoes and kayaks are launched from here.

Good to know

A short raised walkway out to a floating dock on the lake. Washrooms, parking, shelter and how much of it is step free are not stated, so treat it as an unserviced stop.

Sources disagree. Their website gives two different places and they are not the same trip. The Station Street address in Duncan is a small office you can only visit by appointment. The place a group actually goes is the Open Air Classroom out at the marsh, off the Trans-Canada Highway just north of Beverly Street, and that is where the map pin here points. Say which one you mean when you ring.
Washrooms
Needs confirmation
Lunch space
There are picnic tables, and the Peninsula Co-op Talking Circle is available for classes or groups to gather and share knowledge about the area. Both are outdoors.
Rain backup
Needs confirmation
Strollers
Needs confirmation
Wheelchair access
Flat gravel trails lead to the viewing platform, and the raised Watts Walk boardwalk is level with secure handrails. Getting to the top of the viewing tower means stairs.
Bus parking
There is a parking lot a short distance north on the Trans-Canada Highway just after the Beverly Street intersection. Look for the long brown fence and kiosk, and give plenty of notice that you are turning in. Nothing is said about whether a bus fits.
Nearby park
Needs confirmation

Details checked on 2026-09-03 against the venue’s own pages. Something wrong? , it takes one tap. · Venue page · 778-401-8460