The Carp Hills (also known as Carp Ridge) are a small range of rocky hills between the shallow valleys of the Carp River and Constance Creek, entirely within the

West Carleton-March Ward West Carleton-March Ward (Ward 5) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The ward was created for the 2000 election when West Carleton Township was amalgamated into the new city of Ottawa. At that time, the ward was called West Carleton Ward ...

of Canada's capital,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. It runs roughly from Kinburn Side Road southeast to the village of

Carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

and the South March Highlands at March Road. The hills cover roughly and are mostly undeveloped. The ridge is an extension of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

, with a landscape that is characterized by a mix of rocky outcrops, grassland, marshes, numerous shallow ponds, and patches of mature forest. Its pristine rugged nature has been compared to the nearby

Gatineau Park Gatineau Park (french: Parc de la Gatineau) is a federal park located in the Outaouais, Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Administered by the National Capital Commission as part of the National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region, ...

and is regarded as an "ecological jewel". The Carp Ridge is used for hiking, hunting, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. Among the few walking and hiking trails on the ridge are the Carp Barrens Trail, a trail south of Thomas Dolan Parkway, the Crazy Horse trail, a loop trail starting at March Road, and pathways at Hidden Lake Park in the village of Carp.

Geology

The hills are an outcrop of

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

bedrock, unique in the city of Ottawa, which otherwise is relatively flat. Its geology is complex, consisting of

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

substrates, and it supports a number of vegetation-landform ecologies, such as mature deciduous and mixed highland forest and mixed and coniferous lowland forest, which are rare in the area and southeastern Ontario. Typical to Canadian Shield, it has rolling terrain with highly irregular drainage and a thin soil cover with

barren vegetation Barren vegetation describes an area of land where plant growth may be sparse, stunted, and/or contain limited biodiversity. Environmental conditions such as toxic or infertile soil, high winds, coastal salt-spray, and climatic conditions are of ...

. A section of the hills, the Carp Barrens, spread along both sides of Thomas Dolan Parkway, is characterized by the "most extensive, best-expressed complex of granite bedrock barrens", not only on the Carp Ridge, but also in southern Ontario east of the

Thousand Islands – Frontenac Arch The Thousand Islands – Frontenac Arch region or the Frontenac Axis is an exposed strip of Precambrian rock in Canada and the United States that links the Canadian Shield from Algonquin Park with the Adirondack Mountain region in New York, an e ...

. The western side of the hills are an exposed fault, creating a ridge that provides good views of the surrounding rural countryside. The gneiss at the Carp Barrens contains

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

, and 2 small mines once operated there.

Environment

The hills have a high

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of more than 600 species of plants and animals, including

species at risk The List of Wildlife Species at Risk currently has more than 800 entries for Canadian wild life species considered vulnerable; including 363 classified as endangered species, —190 threatened species, —235 special concern, and 22 extirpated ( ...

. Its wetlands contribute clean water year round to the Carp River through surface streams and underground

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

s, which in turn provide the water supply to local wells.

Flora

The diversity of vegetation is exceptional. Almost 180 taxa can be found, including several populations of provincially rare and regionally rare taxa. Among the tree species present are white pine, white spruce, red maple, sugar maple, trembling aspen, white birch, large-toothed aspen, red oak, bur oak, and common juniper. Other vegetation found in the hills are orchids (including the regionally significant showy orchid (''

Galearis spectabilis ''Galearis spectabilis'', commonly known as showy orchis or showy orchid, is an orchid species of the genus '' Galearis''. It is native to eastern Canada (Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick) and much of the eastern half of the United States (from ...

''), downy rattlesnake plantain, ('' Goodyera pubescens''), checkered rattlesnake plantain ('' Goodyera tesselata''), and spotted coralroot (''

Corallorhiza maculata ''Corallorhiza maculata'', or spotted coralroot, is a North American coralroot orchid. It has three varieties: ''C. maculata var. occidentalis'' (western spotted coralroot), ''C. maculata var. maculata'' (eastern spotted coralroot or summer cor ...

''), ricegrass ('' Oryzopsis racemosa''), bottlebrush grass (''

Elymus hystrix ''Elymus hystrix'', known as eastern bottlebrush grass, or bottle-brush-grass, is a bunchgrass in the grass family, Poaceae. It is native to the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. Description ''Elymus hystrix'' is a herbaceous plant with ...

''), tick-trefoil ('' Desmodium glutinosum''), blueberry (''Vaccinium spp.'') and staghorn sumac ('' Rhus typhina''), as well as 13 species of liverworts, 69 species of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es, and 25 species of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.

Fauna

Wildlife include coyote, white-tailed deer, black bear, beaver, porcupine, Blanding's turtle, midland painted turtle, chipmunk, snowshoe hare, and squirrels. Bird species include songbirds, waterfowl, and birds of prey, such as herons, red-tailed hawk, common nighthawk, chestnut-sided warbler, eastern whip-poor-will, field sparrow, golden-winged warbler, indigo bunting, northern shrike, pileated woodpecker, great horned owl, and eastern towhee. The hills are a hotspot for ticks, mostly black-legged ticks, many of which carry the bacteria ('' Borrelia burgdorferi'') that causes

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

Conservation

The environmental importance of the ridge has been recognized since at least 1971 when it was mapped as a "proposed conservation area" with a similar area as the Mer Bleue Conservation Area on the east side of Ottawa. But under pressure by landowners, the designation was withdrawn. In 2012, the updated NCC Master Plan identified the Carp Hills as a significant natural area, and recommended a natural corridor to connect the ridge to the Ottawa Greenbelt via the South March Highlands. While the hills, as well as the barrens separately, have been designated as a candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) by the provincial government and has many Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSW), it was not until 2018 that an area was protected. That year Ducks Unlimited purchased a parcel of land near the village of Carp for conservation. The city of Ottawa owns several pieces of non-contiguous land totalling , designated as Natural Environment Area or Municipal Nature Reserve for environmental protection and outdoor recreation. But the rest of the ridge is privately owned and unprotected, although zoning bylaws place some limitations on development.

References

External links

Friends of the Carp Hills
{{Ottawa landmarks Landforms of Ottawa