COBBLE HILL OVERVIEW

Cobble Hill is another of the small, charming, hamlet-like communities that make up the broader Cowichan Valley region. Located between Mill Bay and Duncan, it’s mostly known for its sleepy, rustic character, fantastic south island location, and some of the best outdoor recreation options the island has to offer. While the community of Cobble Hill itself is relatively small, having a population of just over 5000, it’s also only a very short 15 minute drive away from Duncan, the Cowichan Valley’s regional hub, so while Cobble Hill might not have a full complement of amenities, if you lived in Cobble Hill you’d never really be much more than a 15 minute drive away from the things you need for daily life. That being said, no one is choosing to live in Cobble Hill for the shopping or services, they’re choosing to live in Cobble Hill for the lifestyle, as whether you’re a boater, hiker, biker or golfer, Cobble Hill offers some fantastic options for outdoor recreation within minutes of your door. 

Cobble Hill is also the second southernmost community on Vancouver Island North of the Malahat, meaning it’s only a 45 minute drive from Cobble Hill to downtown Victoria, so it’s a great option for folks looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, while still being close enough to make frequent trips to Victoria or even potentially commute to a job in the big city. Personally, you couldn’t pay me enough to commute to Victoria over the Malahat, but I know there are many folks who do, and the ferry in Mill Bay also offers easy access to the Victoria airport for folks who travel frequently.

COBBLE HILL  AMENITIES

As a small, hamlet-like community, Cobble Hill has somewhat limited options for shopping, dining and services, but does offer most of what’s needed for daily life. Just up the highway from the townsite of Cobble hill there’s the Valleyview shopping center with a Country Grocer, IDA pharmacy, liquor store, Chinese restaurant, a very nice artisan meats and cheese shop, and arguably the best pizzeria on Vancouver Island north of Victoria in Pizzeria Prima Strada. There’s also a couple nice cafes, and community staple the Cobblestone Pub in the town, and for folks who prefer a more “Western” style pizza there’s another favorite south island pizza spot in Moo’s Pizza just south of town. There’s also a Rona and Demxx for the DIYers and home decorators who don’t feel like driving all the way to Duncan. 

For those with school age children, Cobble Hill has somewhat limited choices, with just a single public elementary school within the town’s boundaries, but there’s also the Mill Bay Nature school just down the highway, though there is also the well regarded Evergreen Independent School for those willing to pay for private education. As for highschools, the closest / only public option is Francis Kelcey Secondary school just down the highway in Mill Bay. For those with the means to afford somewhat more pricey private options there are two globally recognized private schools nearby, The Shawnigan Lake School, and Brentwood College both of which are within a short drive 15 minute drive, though the cost to attend these schools is north of $40K per year, and spaces are often booked out a year or more in advance. 

As for health services, Cobble Hill again has somewhat limited options with just a single walk-in clinic and dentist’s office at the Valleyview Centre off the highway. There are a few family doctors in the same office as the walk-in clinic, and at clinics in Shawnigan Lake and Mill Bay, but as with anywhere else in the country these days, wait times to be accepted as a patient could be years. The closest major hospital is the Duncan General Hospital, though with the new Cowichan hospital being constructed off the highway, travel times to the new hospital would be slightly less for folks living in the Cobble Hill area once the hospital is complete. 

COBBLE HILL RECREATION & LIFESTYLE

Cobble Hill is yet another of our South Vancouver Island communities that is an absolute paradise for those who enjoy outdoor recreation or just getting out into nature and has some world class mountain biking right in its backyard. Cobble Hill Mountain, the town’s namesake, is a fantastic hike with an amazing view from top and features 26KM of mountain biking trails. Just up the highway there’s also a number of great hiking and mountain biking options closer to Duncan like Mt. Prevost and Mt. Tzouhalem, both of which offer dozens upon dozens of world class trails for all skill levels. There’s not much for “Indoor” recreation options in Cobble apart from live music at the Cobblestone Pub and the occasional concert or event at the Cobble Hill Community Hall, though the Kerry Park Recreation Centre with it’s ice rink is just a short drive down the highway, and the much greater variety of indoor recreation options in Duncan just a short drive up the highway. 

Being so close to the east coast of Vancouver Island, there’s also a number of great beach access parks a short drive away, like Mill Bay Nature Park, Manley Creek Park and a personal favorite of mine is Bamberton Provincial Park with it’s long expanse of walkable beach and great picnicking area. With my parent’s living in Victoria, we’ve made Bamberton our new favorite “Meet in the middle” spot and have spent many pleasant afternoons barbecuing at the beach. For those into aquatic activities like boating, sailing, fishing, stand up paddle boarding, etc., the beaches and coves along the coast offer innumerable possibilities and best of all the absolutely beautiful Shawnigan Lake is just a short 10 minute drive from Cobble Hill and has some great hikes like at Old Baldy Mountain and is a favorite spot for boaters and allows for “Wake sports” like wake-boarding and water-skiing. 

Cobble Hill is also fairly well situated for golfers, with a couple well regarded courses located within a very short drive from the town. The closest being the spectacular Arbutus Ridge with its ocean views and rolling fairways, but just up the highway there’s also the perhaps even nicer yet lesser known Cowichan Golf Club, which I recently visited for a Vancouver Island Real Estate Board luncheon, where I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the course and its richly forested rolling fairways and lush immaculately-kept greens. There’s also Duncan Meadows and Mount Brenton a little further up the highway, and the dozen plus courses just on the other side of the Malahat in the greater Victoria region. 

WORKING IN COBBLE HILL

Like many of the smaller towns on Vancouver Island, Cobble Hill lacks a core “Industry” and so has somewhat limited options for local employment. Most of the available jobs within Cobble Hill itself will be in the health services, retail or construction industries, so anyone with a background in any of those fields should have no problem finding employment. There’s also a number of working farms, wineries and cideries in the area like Merridale Cidery, so anyone looking to work in the agriculture industry should be able to find work, though salaries in these industries aren’t typically great. Cobble Hill like most other smaller towns on Vancouver Island is definitely experiencing a construction boom as of late though, so anyone who works in trades should have no trouble at all finding a good, well paying job, as there’s a lot of carpentry, framing, plumbing, electrical, etc., work required to build all these new houses and condos! 

Cobble Hill is well served by high speed internet, and so anyone working a remote job should have no issues there. I’ve been doing a number of open houses recently, and I would say the majority of people I’ve met at these open houses as of late are remote workers relocating from the mainland or Victoria, and given it’s great central location and reliable internet, Cobble Hill would be a solid choice for anyone working remotely. Duncan, and it’s far greater range of employment options is also an only 15-20 minute drive away, so it’s entirely possible for folks living in Cobble Hill to work in Duncan, as that commute would be substantially less than the commutes faced by most folks living in larger cities these days. It would also be possible to commute to Nanaimo or Victoria for work, with Nanaimo being only a 55 minute drive away, and Victoria being only a 45 minute drive away. Given the choice between the two though, even if its about 10 minutes further away, I’d still prefer to work in Nanaimo though, as the Malahat and the “Colwood” crawl on the other side, can be two of the most congested stretches of road on the entire island, and can easily turn a 45 minute commute into an hour and a half.

SHOULD I LIVE IN COBBLE HILL?

Cobble Hill has a lot going for it, it’s quiet, safe and serene, is close to nature, and centrally located in terms of South Vancouver Island, so has relatively easy access to our islands larger communities like Victoria, and Nanaimo, but given its relative lack of local employment it's not going to be the perfect fit for everyone. I’d reckon Cobble Hill is a great choice for anyone of three broad groups of folks. The first would be retirees who’re still relatively active and looking to enjoy time outdoors as much as possible who are relocating from a more expensive housing market like Victoria or Vancouver and who are looking to purchase a home that will leave them with some savings left over after selling their former home in the more expensive market. The second group would be younger families where at least one partner has a good well paying remote job, who are also outdoor enthusiasts, and who are looking for a quieter and safer place to raise their children than the larger island communities and who are looking for their first home or to upgrade from a starter home in another island community. The last group that would likely be a great fit to live in Cobble Hill are younger couples where one partner works remotely, or who has a well paying and established career in some kind of construction or health trade, and who are looking to relocate from a more expensive real estate market like Vancouver or Victoria and own their first home to build equity. I could also imagine a couple or family where one or both partners work in Victoria but who really want to escape the hustle and bustle of life in the city and who don’t mind the commute over the Malahat being a possibility as well, but as I’ve said before, you couldn’t pay me enough to make the commute over the Malahat something I had to do with any regularity. 

Cobble Hill has a lot going for it, and is definitely a community that’s going to see some well rounded and largely positive growth and change over the coming decades, so if you’re interested in exploring whether Cobble Hill could be the right community for you to call home, please get in touch via the contact form below, as I’ve love to show you around!