page_title: Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary
section_title: Sanctuary grounds
hierarchical_section_title: Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary / Sanctuary grounds
context_page_description: Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is a nature reserve located in Saanich, British Columbia. The sanctuary includes a lake, adjacent marshy lowlands, and the Nature House, as well as a good part of the summit regions of Christmas Hill.
  The nature sanctuary consists of two physically and ecologically distinct areas: the low wetland area surrounding Swan Lake, and the rocky Garry oak-forested hilltop of Christmas Hill. The two areas are joined by a connecting corridor trail along the Nelthorpe Road allowance, crossing McKenzie Avenue at a pedestrian-controlled crosswalk. Portions of the corridor trail are on the roadside, and are identified by signs with a hiker symbol and arrow to indicate the direction.
  The sanctuary land surrounding the lake covers 43.4 hectares in addition to the 9.4 hectare lake. In the winter flooding stage, the lake can cover up to 32.4 hectares of the low-lying lands around the lake.
context_section_description: All of the nature sanctuary lands are owned by Saanich, except for the two parcels identified on the map (Swan lake map, below) as Nature Trust BC Lands, covering 2.4 hectares (6 acres). All of the lands are managed by the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Society under the terms of a land management agreement between the society and the Municipality of Saanich.
  Lake surface area: 9.4 hectares (23 acres)
  Winter flood lake area: 32.4 hectares (80 acres)
  Land area excluding lake: 43.4 hectares (107 acres)
  Land area including lake: 53 hectares (131 acres)
  The Swan Lake portion of the nature sanctuary is bordered on the west by the Pat Bay Highway; on the east by Saanich Road; on the north by Ralph Street, Sevenoaks and Nelthorpe; and on the south by the Lockside Regional Trail. On the east side of Saanich Road, the vegetated area under the Lochside trestle is also part of the sanctuary lands. Blenkinsop Creek flows through this area on its way to Swan Lake.
  The Christmas Hill portion of the nature sanctuary is bordered on the west by a community greenway trail linking Rainbow Street with Rogers Avenue and Rogers Elementary School, and on the south, east and north by mixed residential lands.
caption: The boardwalk across Swan Lake
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