Lake Cowichan (Nitinaht: ʕaʔk̓ʷaq c̓uubaʕsaʔtx̣), (pop. 2,974), is a town located on the east end of Cowichan Lake and, by highway, is 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Duncan, British Columbia. Lake Cowichan is a growing community. The town of Lake Cowichan was incorporated in 1944. The Cowichan River flows through the middle of the town. Lake Cowichan is well-known throughout Vancouver Island for its outdoor recreation, which includes swimming, kayaking, boating, and camping in and around Cowichan Lake, British Columbia's second-most pristine lake, tubing down the Cowichan River, one of Canada's only Heritage Rivers, also known for its world-class trout and salmon fishing, and for serving as the main gateway to the Pacific Coast of southern Vancouver Island, providing easy access to seaside communities such as Bamfield and Port Renfrew, known for their beautiful beaches with turquoise waters, as well as Nitinat Lake, which is home to some of the highest-rated windsurfing in the world, and Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, home to the world's largest Sitka Spruce trees. Lake Cowichan is only three hours from Vancouver, two hours on the world-renowned BC Ferries ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo, and a one hour drive from Nanaimo to Lake Cowichan. Lake Cowichan is also close to Canada's best known hippie destinations; the surfing capital of Canada, Tofino (3 1/2 hour drive), home of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and Salt Spring Island (1 hour drive, including ferry), the art and (small town) gay capital of Canada; both of these communities are known to be the homes of very open-minded people. Lake Cowichan is surrounded on all sides by the Pacific Northwest Temperate rainforest, which is the most rare ecosystem on Earth, containing the largest, tallest, and oldest trees in the world outside of California. This ecosystem also has the warmest climate in Canada.