The Cowichan Valley is a region around the Cowichan River,

Cowichan Bay Cowichan Bay () is a bay and community located on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island near Duncan, in British Columbia. The mouth of the Cowichan River is near Cowichan Bay. Mount Tzouhalem and its hiking trails and ecological reserve sta ...

and

Cowichan Lake Cowichan Lake is a large freshwater lake located on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located along the Cowichan Valley in the Cowichan Valley Regional District, with its eastern shore about west of Duncan, British Colum ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

, in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. There is some debate as to the origin of the name Cowichan, which many believe to be an anglicized form of the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

tribal name

Quw'utsun Quamichan (or Kw’amutsun) is a traditional nation of the Coast Salish people, commonly referred to by the English adaptation of ''Qu'wutsun'' ("warm place") as the Cowichan Indians, or First Nations, of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, ...

Communities

Communities that lie within the actual Cowichan River/Cowichan Bay watershed include Duncan, Lake Cowichan, Cowichan Bay, Cowichan Station and Maple Bay. Other nearby communities are affiliated mainly through the

Cowichan Valley Regional District The Cowichan Valley Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia is on the southern part of Vancouver Island, bordered by the Nanaimo and Alberni-Clayoquot Regional Districts to the north and northwest, ...

. Crofton and

Chemainus Chemainus is a community within the municipality of North Cowichan in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famous ...

, lie within the Chemainus River Valley, while Cobble Hill, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay, and

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

inhabit a coastal plain that includes the Cowichan and Chemainus River deltas. The

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the A ...

goes through the Valley, and there are numerous options for hiking enthusiasts. On January 7, 2010 an air quality monitoring station was installed.

Agriculture

The Cowichan Valley is the home of a growing number of

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

and

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...

. They include Unsworth Vineyards, Cherry Point Vineyards, Blue Grouse, Glenterra, Vigneti Zanatta, Venturi-Schulze, and Averill Creek. The warm, dry summers and mild, moist winters make this area part of Canada's only maritime

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, providing good growing conditions for many grape varietals.

References

Southern Vancouver Island Wine regions of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub