Dipper Lake

Dipper Lake is one of the largest bodies of water in the Nature Park, though in late summer during dry years, it shrinks to very small pond at the end of a large meadow. The lake straddles the city boundary and is therefore half in and half out of the park. Ducks are almost always seen on the lake and snakes, frogs, toads and western skinks can be found around the edges and in the stream that flows in from Horse Barn Valley. Hawks sometimes soar above the cliffs to the north of the lake and deer and moose can also be found here. The lake drains through underground channels that surface along the Creek Trail and flow down into Whitetail Valley.

If you hike to Dipper Lake via the Rockslide Trail there is a viewpoint above the lake about 50 metres along Shannon Trail. This is a good spot to see if there are ducks or large animals at the lake before you walk down to the edge and scare them away.

In the spring of wet years Dipper Lake is completely full of water. In dryer years and late in the summer it is a sedge and flower filled meadow with a small pond at one end. At these times you can walk across the end of the meadow and out the Horse Barn Valley trail.

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