Museums

The BC Forest Discovery Centre is a 40 ha (100 ac) open air museum. With 2.5 km of narrow gauge rail line visitors explore the site on one of the Centre's gas or steam locomotives. Large logging equipment, vintage industrial vehicles & historical buildings make up only a portion of the Centre's unique collection of forestry-related artifacts. A mature second growth forest, trails through Somenos Wetlands & a picnic site on Somenos Lake make this a must see attraction for Southern Vancouver Island. Easy to find, located just north of Duncan on the Trans Canada Hwy.

Museum exhibits focus on 4 areas - Canada's Navy on the West Coast; the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC); the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS); army defence of Canada's West Coast. The Museum is part of a National Historic District & its heritage buildings date from the 1890s. In addition to exhibits & displays, the museum houses an expanding archive that include thousands of photographs & documents, histories of Canadian naval vessels, navigation charts, biographies of important leaders in the Canadian Navy & copies of the Navy List.

Museum tours by arrangement - contact staff.

Come celebrate the history of 19 Wing Comox & West Coast Canadian Military Aviation. Relive the daring exploits of BC's Airmen in the short-lived Royal Flying Corps of Canada (1917-1918) & Canadian Air Force (1918-1924) through the glory years of the Royal Canadian Air Force (1924-1968), the consolidation of the forces in 1968 & on into the present day, all with a local focus. All of 19 Wing's squadrons, past & present, are represented. Our museum has a Heritage Air Park, exhibiting aircraft from the past including the Y2K Spitfire Restoration Project, a well-stocked Gift Shop & an aviation reference library. Admission is by donation.

Visit the Courtenay & District Museum. For over 45 years, we've been keen about the natural & cultural heritage of the breathtaking Comox Valley & we like to show it off. Are we serious about what we do? You bet - science, academic research, interpretation, preservation & having fun! Be our guest to find out why the Comox Valley - past & present, is one of the most plentiful places on earth. Take a fossil tour & travel 80 million years back in time; browse our galleries to delve into the stories that make our history come alive. Check out our website for Kids Camps!

Explore British Columbia's rich maritime history through themed galleries where you will learn about explorers, fur traders and pirates; experience the hardship and adventure of whaling and seal hunting; and relive an era of graceful travel aboard Canadian Pacific ocean liners.

Visitors can also visit our restored Vice-Admiralty Courtroom where Judge Matthew Begbie once presided and take a ride in the oldest operating bird cage elevator in North America.

Visit with us and see the world's smallest operational sawmill and two of the world's largest doll houses, experience one of the world's largest model railroads, visit the wonderful world of the circus, take a spaceship to the stars, travel through the Enchanted Valley of Castles, witness the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and further adventures. Tiny treasures and little pleasures await all who continue into Frontierland, Fantasyland, the Fields of Glory, the World of Dickens and much more. Special effects in lighting, sound and animation. Car park, bus parking, special family rate, air-conditioned.

Visitors call the Museum at Campbell River on Vancouver Island "a gem of a place". Located conveniently on the Island Hwy, the Museum houses a fine collection of permanent exhibits that represent the unique culture & history of Northern Vancouver Island. Highlights include First Nations carvings & artifacts, the history of the logging & salmon fishing industries & interactive exhibits like a touch screen kiosk that especially intrigue young visitors. While you are here, be sure to watch our film about the famous Ripple Rock explosion & explore the Museum Gift Shop for local books & unique Northwest Coast art.

Discover our fascinating history & modern day contributions to Canada's West Coast in our 1,486 sq m (16,000 sq ft) museum located in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. Stroll through time in our main gallery to get a sense of what life was like for Nanaimo's earliest settlers & hear stories of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Feel what it was like below the surface in our new replica Coal Mine exhibit. The museum also manages the Bastion, an original Hudson's Bay Company outpost built in 1853. Don't miss the cannon firing at noon daily in the summer.

Nuyumbalees means "The Beginning". The Nuyumbalees Society was founded in 1975 by Hereditary & Elected Chiefs of the KwaKwaKa' WaKw people, to negotiate the return of their Potlatch Treasures & Regalia (Kikasuw). The society is entrusted with the care & preservation of a priceless & historic collection of original KwaKwaKa' WaKw Kikasuw returned in February, 1979. The Kwagiulth Museum opened in June that same year. A visit to the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre is a fascinating journey that forms a link between the past, the present & the future of the Kwakwaka'wakw People. Beautiful treasures include: masks, regalia, whistles, rattles & carvings of the Sacred Potlatch Collection.

See all of BC at the Royal BC Museum. Experience galleries & immerse yourself in the tales of where we've been & where we are going. Discover things & people you never knew before. Experience authentic artifacts in highly realistic immersive settings - from Woolly Mammoth in his rocky, icy world, to a trip on the tar-scented HMS Discovery. Stroll through Old Town's wood-cobbled street, enjoy its shops, cinema & railway station. Visit a ceremonial Big House; see an impressive selection of First Nations totem poles & masks. Learn about BC's coastal marine life via a Victoria-era 'submarine' & see live creatures in the 360 litre aquarium. From a wide variety of optional guided tours, to ever-changing presentations by museum staff - there's something for everyone, every day.