Environmentally significant areas

1. Bay Point Lands
Located on land between the St. Clair River and Sarnia Bay, the Bay Point offers a relaxing waterfront stroll on a wheelchair accessible walkway. A constructed wetland provides habitat for wildlife, providing a home for many types of birds, fish and other animals and plants. You can walk around the Dow Model of the Great Lakes or try to find your way through the Cedar Maze.

2. Canatara Park
This park on the shore of Lake Huron offers 262 acres of varying natural habitat and recreational areas. Paved and wood chip walk ways throughout the Park allow visitors to enjoy Tarzanland, a Carolinian forest, a tall grass prairie, Lake Chipican, a small lake home to herons, turtles, and ducks, and the Animal Farm with domestic and exotic animals and birds. A public beach attracts swimmers on hot summer days. Birders come to view the many birds that use the Park as a stopover on their migration route or as a home to raise their young.

3. Logan Pond
This pond is one of a series of gravel pits that was excavated along the old shoreline. Over the years, it has filled with water and the shore has naturalized, providing habitat for many birds and animals. Migrating waterfowl use it as a stopover on their trip north. A closed landfill to the south now, called Blackwell Trails Park, has become a large natural park with walk ways. The Howard Watson Nature Trail runs beside part of the Pond. This is a Sarnia Urban Wildlife Committee project.

4. Art Teasel Wildlife Refuge
This site consisted of a gravel pit, construction landfill and a tree nursery. When activity stopped, nature took over and it has begun to recover. Native trees and shrubs have been planted and plans are underway to encourage natural restoration of the diverse habitats already present. This is a Sarnia Urban Wildlife Committee project.

5. Suncor Energy Foundation Nature Way
It was necessary for the City of Sarnia to install a storm water management facility to allow for development of lands west of Modeland Road. Through innovative engineering design, the excavated material was deposited as a ridge on a 100-metre strip of land to the north and south-east of the pond. A 1.5 km stone chip trail, called the Suncor Energy Foundation Nature Way, provides trail and pedestrian linkage between the site and Wawanosh Wetlands. The Suncor Energy Foundation provided a grant to help naturalize the berms and to provide interpretation for the site.

6. McKenzie and Blundy Memorial Forest
The McKenzie and Blundy Memorial Forest was established in 1988. Through donations from the funeral home and individuals, trees are planted as living memorials. A wide variety of tree species have been planted to create a forest that adds to the biodiversity of the Wawanosh Wetlands Conservation Area.

7. Wawanosh Wetlands Conservation Area
This site was a former Ministry of Transportation property which was used to excavate material needed for the construction of Highway 402. The property was purchased in 1985 and the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority worked with Ducks' Unlimited to create a marsh on the site. The marsh is now flourishing and has become home for a wide variety of wildlife. The grass and boardwalk trails invite children and adults to learn about the wonders of our natural world.

8. Dow Wetlands - is now the responsibility of St. Clair Township
Dow Canada, needing soil to cover a closed landfill site, created a wetland in the resulting depression. It was designed with varying depths and topography that has created habitat for a wide variety of plants, birds and animals. A Memorial Forest has been added as well as 20 more acres of habitat. Open to the public during daylight hours.

9. Perch Creek Habitat Area
This property, which includes the closed Sarnia landfill, is owned by the County of Lambton. The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority manages this 80 hectare site, with support from the Sarnia Urban Wildlife Committee. Trees and tall grass prairie have been planted at the site, helping to restore the open fields to native habitat. A 5 km wood chip trail through the site allows visitors to enjoy this extensive wildlife area.

10. Saredaca Outdoor Centre
This 3-acre site consists of a forested area with a building used for day camps and other activities. There is a small trail through the forest.
There are many Carolinian trees at Camp Saredaca including sycamore, shagbark hickory, slippery elm, swamp white oak and butternut. More than 20 different species in total.

11. Dennis Rupert Prairie Reserve
This 8 hectare property is an example of a rare wet prairie ecosystem, containing two threatened species, Riddell’s goldenrod and Sullivant’s milkweed. The site was named after Dennis Rupert, a local naturalist who first recognized the significance of this undisturbed prairie habitat. This is a Sarnia Urban Wildlife Committee project.

12. Bright’s Grove Lagoons
One of the few remnants of relatively unaltered woodland in the Carolinian ecozone is found at this site. Flowers, including hundreds of trilliums, bloom on the forest floor during the spring. Migratory and resident birds, attracted to the rich lagoons and wooded area, draw birders to the site throughout the year. This is a Sarnia Urban Wildlife Committee project.

13. Centennial Park
A 1.7 km paved trail stretches from downtown, around to Sarnia Bay featuring interesting displays on local history and the Great Lakes, plus the Dow People Place entertainment centre, sports fields, dining, marinas, accommodation and more throughout the area.

14. Howard Watson Nature Trail
This former CNR right-of-way passes through a combination of urban and rural areas. The 17-km trail stretches through wooded areas and alongside ponds. An access to Lake Huron is available at Telfer Side Road. The Interpretive Center, located at Cathcart Boulevard and Modeland Road, is a replica of a turn-of-the-century Sarnia rail station. Trail access points can be found all along the trail connecting the trail to schools, parks, shopping areas and more.