Shawnigan Village, Vancouver Island shoreline c1898

Honouring the Past.
Celebrating the Present.
Building the Future.

Learn About the Shawnigan Lake Museum Expansion Project >

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We acknowledge with respect our presence on the traditional territories
of the Coast Salish Peoples, in particular,
Quw'utsun Tribes and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat) Nation.
We are grateful to live and learn in beautiful Quw'utsun Valley
and the village of Showe'luqun, which is the unceded and
ancestral territory of the Hul'q'umi'num and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples.

Mission Statement
To share the passion for Shawnigan Lake past, present, and future
Vision Statement
To connect community and visitors with the Shawnigan Lake Experience

ANNOUNCEMENT: SHAWNIGAN LAKE MUSEUM HOURS CHANGE

Effective December 21st, the Shawnigan Lake Museum will be changing its operating hours as we transition to our winter schedule.
Our staff & volunteers will be taking a break over the holidays.
In January we have a lot of catching up on finishing many of the tasks that are still left to do after the expansion completion.
Staff will be at the Museum, but we will NOT be open to the public until Tuesday, February 3rd.

Noteworthy History

The Mysterious Origin of the Name Shawnigan - click to read

Abandoned, Then Embraced - The Kinsol Trestle

This project, co-authored by Lori Treloar, Shawnigan Lake Museum Executive Director & Kathryn Gagnon, Cowichan Valley Museum Curator,...

The Last Spike: Sir John A Macdonald Visits Shawnigan Lake

BC threatened to secede from Canada unless a railway was built on Vancouver Island. In 1883, the British Columbia Government appealed to...

E.J. Hughes: The World Famous Painter from Shawnigan Lake

E.J. Hughes was born February 17, 1913 in North Vancouver but spent the first nine years of his childhood in Nanaimo. For over 70 years he painted the landscapes of Coastal British Columbia. He died in January 2007 at the age of 93. As a talented young man he was the first recipient of the Emily Carr Scholarship which allowed him to study in Vancouver under the stewardship of at least one of the Group of Seven artists, Frederick Varley. Over the years he accumulated other p