Shortly after exiting Cowichan Lake, the river drops over Skutz Falls, a small waterfall that is often visited when fish are climbing the fish ladder constructed beside the falls. Below the falls, in the summer time, are some great swimming areas. A ways downstream from that the river flows through Marie Canyon, a popular kayaking run.
The river is widely considered one of the finest troutfishing streams in British Columbia. The Cowichan River is the centre of a provincial park, the Cowichan River Provincial Park, on southern Vancouver Island. The park area is home to hundreds of animal species: small and large mammals, including the native Vancouver Island ermine, an endangered species, and more than two hundred species of birds.
