Nature and outdoors

Group visit to the Open Air Classroom

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

There is a donation box near the entrance for contributions towards the ongoing volunteer maintenance, any amount helps.

Ages & size

Ages not published

Capacity not published

Duration

Length not published

Year round

Days not published

Book by

Not published

Plan this trip

Fieldy handles all communication and booking for you.

What it actually looks like

Photos from Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society's website

Our note

There is nothing indoors here and no washroom is mentioned anywhere on the site, so sort both out before you set off. The level boardwalk with handrails is the reason this works for small children, and it stays usable in winter when the fields flood. The turn in off the highway is easy to miss, so slow down early.

What the children do

The Somenos Marsh Open Air Classroom is an outdoor site the society built and maintains, off the S-amunu dike trail beside the Trans-Canada Highway north of Duncan. Flat gravel trails lead to the Cowichan Wheels viewing platform and on up the stairs of a viewing tower, or out along the raised Watts Walk boardwalk over the marsh, which is level and has handrails. Interpretive signs along the boardwalk carry Hul'q'umi'num names and explain the history and the wildlife. There are picnic tables and the Peninsula Co-op Talking Circle, a ring of log benches the site says classes or groups can use. Nothing is booked and no one guides you. There is a donation box near the entrance towards the volunteer upkeep.

Walk flat gravel trails out to a viewing platform, then either climb the tower stairs or follow the raised boardwalk out over the marsh, stopping at signs about the birds and the water. On the boardwalk they can run, because it is level the whole way and fenced with handrails. A group can sit together on the log benches of the Talking Circle.

Good to know

Flat gravel trails, a level boardwalk with handrails, picnic tables and a ring of log benches a group can sit on. Washrooms, any shelter from rain and whether a bus can get in are not stated anywhere, so ring first.

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