Coming from the south: • travel north on Hwy 1 to Mill Bay • turn left at Shawnigan- Mill Bay Road (2nd light) • travel 5 minutes west to Shawnigan Lake Village
Coming from the north: • travel south on Hwy 1 to Mill Bay • take Shawnigan-Mill Bay Road turn off • travel 5 minutes west to Shawnigan Lake Village
The Museum is currently closed due to Covid restrictions, but we continue to work behind the scenes. We are responding to phone calls and email messages. The reopening date is yet to be determined, depending on public health restrictions.
E.J. Hughes lived at Shawnigan Lake for over twenty years until he found it too busy and noisy (circa 1970) and moved to Cobble Hill. Hughes' last studio, in a modest house in Duncan, was a spare bedroom, with a table and easel set close to a single north window. He painted there, in the afternoon, six days a week. Sunday was his day off.
Your GO TO SOURCE for information about theKinsol Trestle at Shawnigan Lake. Stop by the Museum on your way to/from the Kinsol Trestle to learn it's history. We have two scale models: one 3 foot and one 10 foot! There are also historical and a time lapse restoration video of the Trestle for your enjoyment.
The Last Spike was ceremoniously placed by Sir John A. Macdonald in 1886, at Cliffside. He used a silver hammer and pounded a gold spike. In 1883, the British Columbia Government appealed to Robert Dunsmuir to build a railway. The 72 miles of track, which was laid starting from Esquimalt and Nanaimo met at Mile 25 (Cliffside, Shawnigan Lake).
