John Dean Provincial Park
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John Dean Provincial Park
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| location | British Columbia (Canada) | |
| surface | 173 hectares | |
| WDPA ID | 65236 | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 37 ' N , 123 ° 27' W | |
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| Setup date | December 9, 1921 | |
| administration | BC parks | |
| particularities | third oldest Provincial Park in British Columbia | |
The John Dean Provincial Park is one of only 173 ha large Provincial Park in the Canadian province of British Columbia . The park is located in the southeastern part of Vancouver Island , on the Saanich Peninsula and is part of the Capital Regional District .
After Strathcona Provincial Park (established in 1911) and Mount Robson Provincial Park (established in 1913), it is the third oldest of the Provincial Parks in British Columbia .
investment
The park is located on the Saanich Peninsula, about 26 kilometers south of the provincial capital Victoria . The small town of Sidney is around 8 kilometers northwest of the park . The shape of the park, which is reminiscent of an "L" lying on its back, is widely passed by Highway 17 to the east and Highway 17A to the west . The park itself is grouped around Mount Newton , which at 306 meters is the highest point in the park and also on the peninsula.
There are several small and large areas of marshland as well as a few small lakes and streams spread across the park . In the middle of the park, on the summit of Mount Newton, an area is excluded from the park. There, near the historic lookout point, is a military facility. A little further to the north-east, another small area has been excluded; today there are telecommunications towers here.
Due to the usually prevailing wind directions, the park, like the entire peninsula, is relatively well protected from the otherwise frequent and very productive showers. The entire peninsula is considered to be one of the areas with the lowest rainfall on the coast.
The park is a category II protected area ( national park ).
history
The park was established in 1921. The area is a gift from John Dean. John Dean, who then gave the park its name, is one of the early politicians of nearby Victoria. When the park was founded, there was still a small log cabin in which he regularly spent the summer months on the site, which became the centerpiece of the later park. The building was demolished in 1957. Today a plaque commemorates it.
When it was first established, the park had an area of 100.87 acres , which is approximately 40.8 hectares. In the course of time, the park boundaries were repeatedly redefined, most recently with the law of June 29, 2000. Since then, the park has encompassed the current 173 hectares.
However, as with almost all provincial parks in British Columbia, this one too, long before the area was settled by immigrants or became part of a park, it was the settlement and hunting / fishing area of various tribes of the First Nations , mainly the Saanich people , was.
Flora and fauna
Within the British Columbia ecosystem, the Moist Maritime subzone is assigned to the Coastal Douglas Fir Zone . The same biogeoclimatic zones are characterized by an identical or similar climate and the same or similar biological and geological conditions. This results in a very similar population of plants and animals in the respective zones.
In the park mainly the coastal Douglas fir (called "Coastal Douglas Fir" in English) grows . However, there are also populations of the giant arborvitae , the red alder , the Oregon oak , the Oregon maple and the American strawberry tree . In their undergrowth you can find the common Oregon grape , the alder-leaved rock pear , the Pacific yew and the forest foam spar (Holodiscus discolor). In the undergrowth you can still find the Nuttalls flower dogwood , also called Pacific dogwood, the heraldic plant of British Columbia
Due to the small size of the park, the only larger mammals found here are those that are also found in the area. This is primarily the Columbia black-tailed deer and various smaller mammals such as the American mink and raccoon . The population of smaller mammals, reptiles and amphibians has not yet been studied in detail.
The bird species found are numerous, ranging from widespread species to threatened species. There are large hunters such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons , as well as various sea and water birds and also normal bird species. Among other things , the spotted were: helmeted woodpecker , great loon , red-necked grebe , great blue heron and cliff oystercatcher .
Neighboring parks
There are other parks on the peninsula. In addition to the two Provincial Parks Gowlland Tod and Goldstream to the west, there is also the Gulf Islands National Park to the east .
activities
The park is basically a small park for day visitors. It therefore does not offer extensive tourist infrastructure. The park only has very basic sanitary facilities. The main focus of tourist use is hiking, for which a dense network of hiking trails has been created in the park. The five viewpoints are embedded in this hiking network. Since the park stretches around a mountain, there are constantly different heights to hike on the hiking trails.
Web links
- John Dean Provincial Park . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
- John Dean Provincial Park . In: English language website of the park at BC Parks
- Information park on britishcolumbia.com (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mount Newton in the Internet version of the English-language Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
- ↑ World Database on Protected Areas - John Dean Park (English)
- ^ John Dean Provincial Park - Purpose Statement and Zoning Plan. (PDF, 340.34 kB) British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks , March 2003, accessed on July 16, 2013 (English).
- ^ Ecosystems of British Columbia. (PDF, 10.31 MB) British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations , February 1991, accessed on July 16, 2013 .
- ↑ Biogeoclimatic Zones of British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, accessed May 4, 2016 .