Qualicum Beach

Qualicum Beach is a town in Central Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Informally considered a twin city with neighbouring Parksville, it's a popular vacation area in summer with a number of provincial parks, warm beaches, family fun parks and charming downtown.

Understand
Qualicum Beach has a population of 9,000 (2016), and sits at the foot of Mount Arrowsmith, along the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island's eastern coast. Qualicum's natural environment and proximity to Victoria and Vancouver have made it a tourist destination, with rental cottages along its coast. It is also a retirement community, and has one of the oldest average populations in Canada.



History
The name "Qualicum" comes from a Pentlatch language term that means "Where the dog salmon (chum salmon) run."

In May 1856, Hudson's Bay Company explorer Adam Grant Horne, with a group of Indigenous guides, found a land route across Vancouver Island from the Qualicum River to the Alberni Inlet.

In 1864, the botanist and explorer Robert Brown led the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition through the area. He found the area deserted as a result of the smallpox epidemic of 1862. The first settlers arrived in the 1880s. A road was built from Nanaimo to Parksville in 1886 and extended to Qualicum in 1894. The E and N Railway reached Parksville in 1910 and Qualicum in 1914. H.E. Beasley, a railway official, sponsored the creation of the Merchants Trust and Trading Company which organized the original layout of the town and built the golf links and a hotel in 1913.

Qualicum Beach was incorporated as a village in 1942, and became a town status in 1983. The area is growing quickly with new housing subdivisions and a major new highway. It is a favoured retirement and golfing community.

By car
Qualicum Beach is just off of the Island Highway (Highway 19), about 35 minutes north of Nanaimo, take exit 60. The nearest ferry terminal with connections to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is in Nanaimo.

By public transit

 * Routes in Qualicum Beach include:
 * Route 91 Intercity provides multiple times daily service between Qualicum Beach and Nanaimo's Woodgrove Centre with stops in Parksville and Nanoose Bay.
 * Route 98 provides service around Qualicum Beach.

See




Cope

 * The nearest hospital is in Nanaimo.