Exploring Pippy Park offers more than a walk in the woods (although we think that’s fine, too). The Park contains significant wetlands as well as the headwaters of three major watersheds.
Welcome to our wetlands
To some, wetlands are just boggy patches of ground. But wetlands provide extremely valuable services. They control floods (by acting like sponges); improve water quality (by filtering pollutants), and are important habitat for a great diversity of plants and animals.
Pippy Park contains four different types of wetlands: bog, marsh, fen and riparian (wetlands along ponds and rivers). Several of these wetlands include:
- The Long Pond marsh which contains sensitive nesting grounds for a variety of birds;
- The bog north of Groves Road is home to the rare leopard marsh orchid;
- Fogarty’s Wetland is home to the green frog.
Rivers, brooks, ponds and more
Pippy Park contains the headwaters of three major watersheds Virginia River, Rennie’s River and Leary’s Brook. The Park contains these significant rivers as well as other brooks, ponds and wetlands that provide important habitat for spawning fish, aquatic insects, waterfowl and other animals. Pippy Park also borders the Windsor Lake watershed which is the main water supply for the City of St. John’s.
These waterways and wetlands also perform an important flood control function and help regulate water quality. The protection of these headwaters is very important because what happens in these areas affects entire river systems and a large part of the St. John’s.
The Three Pond Barrens section of the Park include Big Pond, Middle Pond and Left Pond which are popular for fishing and swimming. In the western part of the Park is Oxen Pond, and an interpretative trail along part of it is provided by MUN Botanical Garden. In the southern part of the Park are Long Pond, Kent’s Pond and Burton’s Pond which are connected by well-groomed trails and these are favourite haunts of birdwatchers.
Did you Know?
- Thousands of Atlantic salmon fry have been released into Rennies River by the Salmon Association of Eastern Newfoundland (SAEN) and Fluvarium staff.
- Fogarty”s Wetland is a combination of a fen, bog and open water which is home to frogs, muskrat, white pond lilies and the scent-bottled orchid, among other plants and animals. It was restored and made into an interpretative area for the public in 2002. A walking trail that follows Nagles Hill Brook gives easy access from the Fluvarium for interpretative walks.
