Sand Pits Lake, better known as The Pond or McKay Pond is an artificial lake located next to McKay Lake in the

Rockcliffe Park Rockcliffe Park (French: ''Parc Rockcliffe'') is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward, close to the centre of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1864, organized as a Police village in 1908, and an independent village from 1926, and u ...

neighbourhood of

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 Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. The lake is a popular location for swimming, but it does not have any beach facilities such as washrooms or picnic areas. Swimming is only permitted between 7am and 2pm. The city often pumps groundwater into the lake to keep water levels high. It is part of the Caldwell-Carver Conservation Area. The lake is home to

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

green heron The green heron (''Butorides virescens'') is a small heron of North and Central America. ''Butorides'' is from Middle English ''butor'' "bittern" and Ancient Greek ''-oides'', "resembling", and ''virescens'' is Latin for "greenish". It was long c ...

double-crested cormorant The double-crested cormorant (''Nannopterum auritum'') is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes, and in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Al ...

s, river otters, green frogs,

snapping turtle The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, '' Chelydra'' and ''Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are ''Acherontemys ...

s, squirrels and many types of fish. The location of the lake was used as a sand and gravel pit from 1890 to 1949, and was known as the "Sandpits". Afterwards, the pit filled with water, becoming a swimming hole. An

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters spec ...

(OMB) ruling in 1975 allowed for public access to the pond. The OMB approved a 102-unit luxury housing development in the area in 1981, and construction began in 1983.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Ottawa Lakes of Ontario Ponds of Canada Beaches of Ontario