Tag Archives: Toogood Pond Park

Swan Lake – Markham

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September 7, 2024

Swan Lake Park in Markham is a nice place to visit for a walk and to enjoy some time with nature. It is the second largest water body in Markham and is man made like the other two large lakes. Swan Lake can trace its history back to the 1850s when the site was found to be a large gravel deposit dating back to the last ice age about 12,000 years ago. Markham was founded around 1825 when a dam was built on the Rouge River to provide water for a mill that was located in the area of Milne Dam. Around 1840 another dam was built which created Toogood Pond near Unionville. We had previously written about these two ponds and so it was time to visit Swan Lake.

When you enter the park off of Swan Lake Boulevard the first thing you will see is a canoe full of plants. These canoe gardens have been showing up throughout Ontario and are used to create a space to plant shrubs and flowers that attract bees and other pollinators to the area. The first canoe garden was set up in 2013 near Fort York on the old waterway for Garrison Creek. Since then, dozens of them have been placed throughout Toronto, Markham and Richmond Hill. The idea is to improve habitat for pollinators as their populations have declined by over 45% since the 1980s.

Swan Lake was used as a gravel pit from the 1850s until the 1970s with the largest amount of gravel being removed in the 1960s and 1970s. Gravel is needed for construction purposes and as Markham and surrounding area were developed for houses and roads, a good local source was needed. It isn’t economically viable to truck gravel for long distances so it is usually extracted near where it will be used. When the gravel pit was closed it was allowed to fill up with water to become Swan Lake.

Swan Lake Park is 45 hectares (111 acres) and has many foot trails to be explored. There is a main trail that goes all the way around the lake and many secondary trails, especially through the wooded areas.

Although housing has been built up to the edges of the park and often encroaches on the ability to take natural looking photographs, there’s still plenty of places to get some great pictures.

The lake itself is 5.4 hectares (over 13 acres) and is somewhat smaller than the 21 hectare (52 acres) lake in Milne Dam Conservation Area. It is larger than the 3.5 hectare (8.6 acre) Toogood Pond.

The lake supports many turtles of which the Painted Turtles and Snapping Turtles are natural while the Red-eared Sliders are invasive. Red-eared Sliders are sold as pets and subsequently dumped into the lake by irresponsible owners.

The lake is a natural part of the local aquifer and it is estimated that 35% of all the water that enters the lake goes into sustaining local groundwater levels. Based on this, Swan Lake is considered to be a significant groundwater recharge area.

Swan Lake has been prone to large amounts algae which is related to excess phosphorus in the water. Canada Geese are one of the primary sources of nitrogen and phosphorus in the lake. The many enhancements in the past few years are an effort to manage the geese populations. These include changes to the shorelines to make them less attractive to geese as nesting areas. Lake bottom sediments also contribute to the high levels of phosphorus in the lake. In 2013 an application of Phoslok was done and the water improved but only for a couple of years. There is an ongoing program to monitor and treat the lake to prevent excess blooms of algae which can be toxic to pets and humans.

The north end of the park is forested and has a small hill that looks out over the lake. This is where you are most likely to see some of the 12 species of mammals that have been observed in the park. These include coyote, red fox, racoons, squirrels and chipmunks. Mink and muskrats have been found around the edge of the lake. 155 species of birds have been spotted in the park, many of them migratory. This makes the park a great place for bird watchers.

The Friends Of Swan Lake Park have made a request to the City of Markham to add the park to the Markham Natural Heritage Network. As an ecologically sensitive area it qualifies even though it isn’t part of the Rouge River watershed. Whether you’re looking to enjoy some time in nature, get some exercise or just take the dog for a walk, Swan Lake is a great place to visit.

We are definitely planning to return to Swan Lake in a few weeks when the trees are changing colours as it has many species of trees and is likely to be very colourful. Our walk can be seen on the map below.

Related stories: Milne Dam Conservation Area, Toogood Pond

Google Maps link: Swan Lake

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Toogood Pond Park

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May 4, 2024

When millwright Ira White arrived at the north end of what would become Unionville in 1839 he recognized the east half of lot 13 in the 5th concession to be an ideal site to harness the water power of Bruce Creek.  He built a sawmill first and then set about cutting the wood for the grist mill he built where the creek crosses Main Street in Unionville. He built a dam across the creek to create a mill pond to provide consistent water flow to power the wheels that operated his grist and saw mills. Originally it was known as The Pond and later as Willow Lake. The mill continued to operate under water power from the pond until the dam was washed away in a flood in 1930. The mill stood for another four years until it was destroyed by a fire in 1934. The image below shows Willow Lake as it appeared in the 1877 County Atlas.

The mill was never rebuilt and the property that the mill pond stood on was sold in 1939 to a family named Toogood who had just moved from Alberta. The pond was used as a swimming hole for the local children and in 1953 the Unionville Swimming Club was established to provide supervised swimming for the children to increase safety. The Red Cross also started to provide swimming lessons. Today, you can no longer swim in the pond.

The 33.3 hectare site was acquired by the City of Markham in 1980 and became known as Toogood Park. The park is a common place to go fishing in the hopes of catching largemouth bass, carp, pumpkinseed, brown, black or yellow bullhead and creek chub.

Water flows over the spillway on the dam as well as through a small channel on the side which acts as a fish ladder allowing fish to navigate around the dam. The image below shows Bruce Creek as it flows away from the dam and into the former village of Unionville.

For many years it was common practice to go skating on the pond in the winter. In 2015 the city banned this for safety reasons. By November of 2016 it was announced that users could skate on the pond at their own risk.

A boardwalk carries the trail along the northern end of the pond through a wetland of bullrushes.

Bruce’s Creek flows south from Bruce’s Mill and makes its way towards Unionville. This image shows the watercourse on the south side of the boardwalk as it makes its way into Toogood Pond.

Looking upstream from the boardwalk the scenery is very beautiful on this sunny spring afternoon with the leaves really starting to come out.

The trail around Toogood Pond is less that 1.5 kilometers and can be done in under half an hour at a leisurely pace. If you’re lucky you might spot some turtles sunning themselves on partially submerged logs in the pond.

Toogood Pond Park is a great place to for a walk, try you luck at fishing or just to relax and unwind. Free parking can be found off main street in Unionville at Toogood Pond Park road and also on Carlton Road at Pomander Road.


Associated Blogs: Unionville, Bruce’s Mill

Google Maps link: Toogood Pond

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