Kinsol Trestle Capital Campaign

Donate today to preserve the unparalleled Kinsol Trestle and support our local economy.

The provincial government and the Island Coastal Economic Trust have already supported the rehabilitation by providing $4.1 million. To save the Kinsol Trestle and enjoy the benefits it will provide, we have to raise an additional $2 million.

The magnificent Kinsol Trestle is the highest and largest surviving timber trestle in Canada. At 614 feet in length and standing 145 feet above the salmon bearing Koksilah River, the Kinsol Trestle is reportedly one of the four largest wooden structures in the world.

Built in 1920 with the labour of local farmers and loggers, the restoration of the Kinsol Trestle can once again support our community and continue to strengthen the Cowichan Valley for generations to come.

If it isn’t repaired soon, the Kinsol Trestle will have to be dismantled to prevent its collapse into the Koksilah River. And if that occurs, our community will have lost a landmark that is locally and internationally valuable as well as an important factor in our economic recovery.

The Kinsol Trestle must be saved because:

• This is our chance to preserve one of the few accessible and visible reminders of the early mining and logging industries that are so much a part of our Cowichan Valley heritage.
• Long-term economic and recreation benefits for the community will result from increased tourism and recreation.
• Its restoration will complete the “missing link” in the section of the Trans Canada Trail between Shawnigan Lake and the Town of Lake Cowichan.
• The sheer beauty of Kinsol’s immense scale and elegant design in the middle of an incredible natural setting would be lost otherwise.

An added benefit is that this major construction project will create 43 person years of direct and indirect employment, along with all the related economic spin-offs in the Cowichan area.

Your gift matters. Help to save this piece of heritage for the benefit of future generations and support our local economy. Every donation leverages substantial infrastructure dollars, and all will be invested in the Cowichan Valley.

Make a donation now and join our growing list of supporters. We look forward to thanking you and to recognizing your donation in the community. We hope you will encourage others to share your interest in saving the Kinsol Trestle and to follow your example with a gift of their own.

TOGETHER we can save the magnificent Kinsol Trestle.