Saanich Peninsula ( str, W̱SÁNEĆ) is located north of
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
. It is bounded by
Saanich Inlet on the west, Satellite Channel on the north, the small Colburne Passage on the northeast, and
Haro Strait
, image = Southern Gulf Islands, BC, Canada - panoramio.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = View of Haro Strait from South Pender Island
, image_bathymetry = Locmap-Haro-Boundary ad ...
on the east. The exact southern boundary of what is referred to as the "Saanich Peninsula" (or simply as "the Peninsula") is somewhat fluid in local parlance.
Surrounded by the
Salish Sea, Saanich Peninsula is separated from
Saltspring Island by Satellite Channel,
Piers Island
Piers Island is a small island in Satellite Channel, British Columbia, Canada. The channel joins Saanich Inlet on the west with Colburne Passage to Haro Strait on the east, which is the section of the Canada–US border separating the Gulf ...
and Coal Island by Colburne Passage, and
James Island by Cordova Passage in Haro Strait.
Name
Its name in the
Saanich dialect
Saanich (also Sənčáθən, written as in Saanich orthography and pronounced ) is the language of the First Nations Saanich people in the Pacific Northwest region of northwestern North America. Saanich is a Coast Salishan language in the North ...
, ''W̱SÁNEĆ'', means "raised up" (when referring to people, that term means "emerging people").
Geography and climate
Lying in the
rain shadow of both the
Vancouver Island Ranges and the
Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the east ...
, Saanich Peninsula is the driest part of
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...
. The driest recording station in the provincial capital city of Victoria averages only of precipitation annually. Precipitation increases from east to west, and from south to north.
The natural
flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
of the region include mixed forests of
Douglas fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are thre ...
,
Western red cedar
''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...
,
hemlock,
arbutus,
Garry oak, and
manzanita. The ground cover includes
snowberry,
Oregon grape,
salal,
sword fern Sword fern is a common name for several ferns and may refer to:
*''Nephrolepis'', a tropical genus of ferns, especially:
**''Nephrolepis exaltata'', commonly cultivated as a houseplant, including the Boston fern
*''Polystichum'', a cosmopolitan gen ...
,
trillium, and
fawn lily. The peninsula is characterized by rolling hills and numerous freshwater ponds and lakes. Notable natural features of Saanich Peninsula include Elk Lake, Beaver Lake, Mount Newton, Bear Hill, Tod Inlet, Mount Finlayson,
Maltby Lake, Prospect Lake, Durrance Lake, and
Mount Work. Many of these features are protected in regional and municipal parks.
Geology
Many different kinds of
bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...
underlie the peninsula.
Sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
is common at the northern end.
Granodiorite
Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar.
The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gr ...
crops out in many northern and central areas.
Amphibolite
Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose (flak ...
,
diorite
Diorite ( ) is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-sil ...
,
gabbro
Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ...
and
quartz diorite are common in the south. Smaller areas of
andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
,
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...
,
chert
Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a ...
,
dacite
Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained ( aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhy ...
and
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...
are also found.
History
The region is the historical homeland of certain
Coast Salish people
The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the C ...
s. Several
Indian Reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty,
that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band."
Indi ...
s are located on the peninsula, predominantly along the shore of Saanich Inlet. Early European settlers arrived in the mid-nineteenth century, pursuing mainly resource-based economic activities such as
logging,
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...
, and — most notably —
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...
. The peninsula is home to the oldest agricultural exhibition in
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada ...
, the Saanich Fair, sponsored by the North and South Saanich Agricultural Society. In more recent decades, residential and commercial development has become widespread on the Peninsula, although
provincial law
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
protects much of the region's farmland from
rezoning. The peninsula is also home to many wilderness parks, mostly on its southwest. The largest of these is
Gowlland Tod Provincial Park.
Transportation
The peninsula is also the location of the
Swartz Bay terminal of the
BC Ferry Corporation, the
Victoria International Airport
Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, British Columbia, North Saa ...
at
Patricia Bay
Patricia Bay ("Pat Bay" to locals) is a body of salt water that extends east from Saanich Inlet and forms part of the shoreline of North Saanich, British Columbia. It lies due west of Victoria International Airport. A municipal park covers most o ...
, aka "Pat Bay", and the western terminal of the
Washington State Ferries
Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals ...
run through the
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core o ...
from
Anacortes
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.[Sidney
Sidney may refer to:
People
* Sidney (surname), English surname
* Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder
* ...]
. A small ferry on the west coast of the Peninsula connects
Brentwood Bay to
Mill Bay.
Cultural institutions
Just north of Elk Lake is the
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian government. The Dominion architect responsible for the building was Edgar Lewis Horwood. The main instrume ...
.
Butchart Gardens is located just south of the town of
Brentwood Bay, which was the original home of a long-established private school of the same name.
Governance
The following municipalities are located on the peninsula. They are part of
Greater Victoria
Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region) is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD ...
and member municipalities of the
Capital Regional District/(CRD):
*
Central Saanich (containing the villages of
Brentwood Bay and
Saanichton)
*
Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
* So ...
*
North Saanich
*
Saanich (its northern portions)
*
Sidney
Sidney may refer to:
People
* Sidney (surname), English surname
* Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder
* ...
The
Tsawout First Nation
The Tsawout First Nation is a First Nations government located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. They are a member of the Sencot'en Alliance. In the 1850s they were signatories to the Douglas Treaties. They speak the SENĆOŦEN langu ...
reserve and band office is located in
Saanichton overlooking
James Island on the east shore of the Peninsula; the
Tsartlip First Nation is based on the west side of the peninsula north of Brentwood Bay; the
Pauquachin First Nation is based between
Mount Newton and Coles Bay on west side of the Peninsula; and the
Tseycum First Nation is based on the NW of the Peninsula along the shores of Patricia Bay.
The rural community of
Willis Point is also located on the peninsula, but is governed via th
Juan de Fuca Electoral Area
See also
*
Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park
*
Victoria and Sidney Railway
References
External links
A satellite image of the peninsula, from ''Google Local''The MyPeninsula Local Events Calendar
{{Authority control
Peninsulas of British Columbia
Greater Victoria