Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary facts for kids
The Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is a special place in Saanich, British Columbia, where nature thrives. It's like a big outdoor classroom with a beautiful lake, wet marshy areas, and a tall hill called Christmas Hill. There's also a Nature House where you can learn even more!
This amazing sanctuary has two main parts. One is the low, wet area around Swan Lake, full of water-loving plants and animals. The other is the rocky Christmas Hill, covered with special Garry oak trees. A trail connects these two different areas, letting you explore both!
The land around Swan Lake covers about 43.4 hectares (that's like 107 football fields!). The lake itself is 9.4 hectares (about 23 football fields). When it rains a lot in winter, the lake can get much bigger, covering up to 32.4 hectares (80 football fields) of the low-lying land.
Contents
Exploring the Sanctuary Grounds
Most of the land at the nature sanctuary belongs to the city of Saanich. A small part is owned by Nature Trust BC. All of these lands are looked after by the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Society. They work hard to protect the animals and plants that live here.
Here are some quick facts about the size:
- Lake surface area: 9.4 hectares (23 acres)
- Winter flood lake area: 32.4 hectares (80 acres)
- Land area (not including the lake): 43.4 hectares (107 acres)
- Total land area (including the lake): 53 hectares (131 acres)
The Swan Lake part of the sanctuary is surrounded by different roads and trails. On the west is the Pat Bay Highway, and on the east is Saanich Road. To the north are Ralph Street, Sevenoaks, and Nelthorpe, and to the south is the Lockside Regional Trail. A small stream called Blenkinsop Creek flows through the sanctuary on its way to Swan Lake.
Christmas Hill is bordered by a community trail on the west side. The other sides are surrounded by houses.
A Look Back in Time: History of the Sanctuary
The land where the sanctuary now sits has a long and interesting history, going back thousands of years!
First Peoples and the Land
Long, long ago, for at least 8,000 to 9,000 years, First Nations people lived in the coastal areas of British Columbia. The oldest signs of people living near Victoria are about 4,150 years old.
Archaeologists, who study ancient cultures, say that Swan Lake was a very important place for the Songhees people. They used it for hunting and gathering food. Many old arrowheads and spear tips have been found around the lake, showing that a lot of hunting happened here.
The Songhees people knew and used over a hundred different kinds of plants from this area. They used them for food, medicine, and to make tools, shelters, and special items for ceremonies. Some important food plants included the Camas lily, wild onion, western crab apple, and different berries like salmonberry and red huckleberry. They also gathered cat-tails and rushes from the lake shore to weave into mats, baskets, and clothing.
The lake and streams were full of fish like salmon, rainbow trout, and perch. The Songhees people caught them using different methods, including spears and wooden basket traps.
Many kinds of birds were hunted, and their eggs were collected, especially in winter and during spring when lots of birds visited the lake. Ducks and seagulls were often eaten. Other birds like Scoters, grebes, geese, swans, and eagles were also part of their diet.
The Songhees people used clever pole nets at Swan Lake to catch waterfowl. They would stretch a net between two tall poles and quickly raise it into the path of ducks flying towards the lake in the evening.
Bird feathers were used for masks, headdresses, and clothing. Bird skulls, beaks, and wings were carried as good luck charms.
Deer were also common around the lake, providing an important food source. Deer hides were used for clothing, and their antlers were made into tools like wedges, harpoon points, and needles.
_(7204158764).jpg)
The rocky, Garry oak-covered slopes of Christmas Hill were likely used by the Songhees to grow Camas lily bulbs. These bulbs were a very important part of their diet. They used special farming methods, like controlled burning, to keep the land open. This helped the Camas lilies grow well. It's believed that the many Garry oak forests in the Victoria area before European settlers arrived were there because of centuries of burning and harvesting Camas bulbs by the First Nations people.
European Settlers Arrive
How the Land Was Purchased
The Songhees people had a group called the Sahsum, or Kosampson. Their village was near Craigflower Park. By 1843, the Kosampson moved to a village called Kala, which later became part of the Esquimalt Indian Reserve in 1853.
In 1850, the land that was considered to belong to the Kosampson people was sold to James Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Where the Names Came From
No one is completely sure how Swan Lake got its name. It first appeared on a map of Victoria in 1885. Some people think it was named after James Gilchrist Swan, an American who visited the area.
However, most people believe the name comes from the trumpeter swans that used to visit the lake regularly.
The name Christmas Hill also has a few different stories. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was sometimes called Lake Hill and sometimes Christmas Hill.
One story says that Christmas Hill was named after Joseph William McKay, a Hudson's Bay Company worker, who found it on Christmas Day in the early 1840s.
Another popular legend says that on Christmas Eve in 1855, a very large bird, which the Lekwungen people thought was a Thunderbird, carried away a small Lekwungen child from Fort Victoria. Men from the fort searched and found the child playing happily on Lake Hill (as it was called then) on December 25. Because this seemed like a Christmas miracle, the hill's name was changed.
The names Swan Lake and Christmas Hill were officially confirmed on May 1, 1934.
Farming the Land
Both Swan Lake and Christmas Hill have a long history of farming. It started with a sheep farm on Christmas Hill in 1857 and continued until the Pendray dairy farm at Swan Lake closed in 1978.
An 1885 map shows three main landowners, each with a lot of land:
- John Caspar Von Allman, from the top of Christmas Hill north.
- Kenneth McKenzie, from the top of Christmas Hill south to the middle of Swan Lake.
- James Stockend, south from the middle of the lake.
Not much is known about the Von Allman farm, but it might have had many fruit orchards. Vanalman Avenue, a road nearby, is named after him.
The McKenzie Farm
Kenneth McKenzie and his family arrived in Victoria in 1853. He worked for the Hudson's Bay Company. He started a sheep farm on Christmas Hill and later bought land that stretched from the hill to the middle of the lake. In 1866, he moved his family to a new home on Christmas Hill. He raised sheep, cattle, horses, and vegetables until he passed away in 1874. Later, his land was divided into many smaller lots and sold. His daughters, Agnes and Wilhemena, lived in the farmhouse until they passed away in the late 1920s.
The Rogers Farm
George Rogers Senior came to Victoria in 1886 and worked as a farmer. He leased, and then bought, the Von Allman farm in 1903. At first, it was called Alderlea Farm, but he renamed it Chesterlea. His son, George Junior, took over the farm. In 1925, he built his family home on Rogers Avenue. At that time, the dairy farm was very large, about 91 hectares (225 acres).
Today, a part of the Rogers farm is where Rogers Elementary School is located. A large part of the farm was sold to Saanich for the nature sanctuary, and some was used for houses. The Rogers family's history in the area is remembered in nearby street names like Rogers Avenue, Lily Avenue (named after George Senior's wife), Genevieve Road (named after George Junior's wife), and Chesterlea Road.
The Pendray Dairy Farm
One of the first big pieces of land bought for the nature sanctuary was the 12-hectare Pendray farm, on the east side of the lake. Joel Pendray started his dairy farm there in 1917. His son Tom continued the farm after Joel passed away in 1954. This was the last dairy in Victoria to sell milk that wasn't pasteurized (a process that heats milk to kill germs). The farm operated until March 1978, when the land became part of the nature sanctuary.
The Girling Farm
In October 1912, the Girling family started a small hobby farm at Swan Lake. Anne Alice Girling, one of the daughters, was a photographer. She took many amazing pictures of Swan Lake and Christmas Hill in the early 1900s. Her collection of photos is now kept safe at the Saanich Archives.
The Swan Lake Hotel
The Swan Lake Hotel was built in 1864 on the south side of the lake. It was known as a great place for fishing in spring and summer, and perfect for ice skating in winter. It was Saanich's first year-round fun resort! Sadly, the hotel burned down in January 1894. Because it was so popular, it was quickly rebuilt. But then, it burned down again in October 1897, and the people inside barely escaped! After that second fire, it was never rebuilt.
The Nature House
The Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature House is open every day, and you can visit by making a donation. Inside, you'll find a library, a real bee colony, offices, a classroom, and cool nature exhibits. They even have two snakes and a turtle! The classroom can be rented for events, and many community activities happen here.
Boardwalks and Trails
The sanctuary has about 3.75 kilometers (about 2.3 miles) of trails. There's a 2.5-kilometer gravel loop trail around Swan Lake and a 1.25-kilometer trail on Christmas Hill. You'll also find two wharves, several wooden bridges, and a long boardwalk that goes across one end of the lake.
The wharves and the floating boardwalk were first built by members of the Canadian military. The floating boardwalk was special because it let people get very close to the lake water, which was unique in the area. It became a key part of many education programs, allowing visitors to watch birds and study the lake water. The first floating boardwalk was there until 2018. To keep visitors safe and handle the winter water levels, a new, longer boardwalk was built in two parts. The new boardwalk opened in October 2018, with lots of community support!
Native Plant Garden
A special garden with native plants was finished near the Nature House in 1998, after four years of hard work. This garden has 70 different kinds of flowers and shrubs that naturally grow on Southern Vancouver Island. It has stone steps leading to the Nature House, a gentle fountain, benches, and a hidden area with bird feeders. The garden was designed to keep the plants well-watered.
Rules for Visiting the Sanctuary
To keep the sanctuary safe and healthy for everyone, there are some rules to follow. Some rules come from the Sanctuary Board, and some are city laws.
Here are some important rules:
- No Dogs: Because Swan Lake is a special place for migrating birds, dogs are not allowed on any of the trails around the lake. This helps protect the birds.
- No Bikes: The trails around the lake are narrow and rocky, so bikes are not allowed on them. You can only ride bikes in the parking lot or on paved roads.
The Sanctuary Board also has rules that say you cannot go boating, fishing, or swimming in the lake. These rules help protect the lake's ecosystem and wildlife.
