Wilcox Lake is both a kettle lake and a community within Oak Ridges

Oak Ridges, Ontario

Oak Ridges is an unincorporated community in Ontario, Canada, and has been part of Richmond Hill's administrative area since its annexation in 1971. Although physically separate and distinct from Richmond Hill, it forms the northern portion of the municipality's boundary. Located about 16.5 km...

, Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...

, Canada. The lake measures 1.5 kilometers across and covers 55.6 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s, making it the largest kettle lake on the Oak Ridges Moraine

Oak Ridges Moraine

The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough...

. Lake Wilcox, Lake St. George and their associated wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s form a "provincially significant wetland".

The lake is named after W. Wilcox Baldwin, a settler of the area who owned an estate situated on Yonge Street

Yonge Street

Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...

. A community of the same name is established around the lake.

Community

Wilcox Lake is a local community located within Oak Ridges. The local community has an elementary school; Lake Wilcox elementary school, the Lake Wilcox Community Centre, as well as a number of local parks; Sunset Beach Park and Brickworks Parks being most popular. The local community has come together through a number of tragedies, including the death of a local mother, Terri Callaway on North Lake Road, and two local teens who accidentally drowned in the lake in 2008.

History

Housing developments began to boom around Wilcox Lake in the 1950s. Lake Wilcox, as a part of the annexation of Oak Ridges, became a part of Richmond Hill in 1971. The suburban housing developments did not continue until the mid to late 1980s. The developments affected the forests of the Oak Ridges Moraine which supplies water to the GTA. Which would cause environmental damage to Toronto. It continued for about two years. There were protests against the clear-cutting of forests of the Oak Ridges Moraine. In about 2001, Bayview began to expand to connect with the rest of Bayview. In 2002, the housing developments stopped.

Geography

Wilcox Lake is part of the Humber River

Humber River (Ontario)

The Humber River is one of two major rivers on either side of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the other being the Don River to the east. It was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999....

 drainage system, draining into the East Humber River. The drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the lake covers 260 hectares. The maximum depth of the lake is 17.4 meters.

Wetlands complex

Wilcox Lake, Lake St. George, Swan Lake and Haynes Lake and their associated marshes, swamps and forests form a large wetland designated as a Provincially Significant Wetland. The total complex has some ninety individually identified wetlands, covering 102 hectares. 57% of the complex is classified as swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

, 39% as marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

 and 4% as bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

.

Ecology

Beginning in 1997, the town of Richmond Hill undertook a project to restore the lake's condition, which had degraded due to pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 and development. Septic systems which had previous drained into the lake were connected to sewer

Sanitary sewer

A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...

s and lake lungs have been installed to increase oxygenation

Oxygenation (environmental)

Environmental oxygenation can be important to the sustainability of a particular ecosystem. Insufficient oxygen may occur in bodies of water such as ponds and rivers, tending to suppress the presence of aerobic organisms such as fish...

 of the water. High phosphorus

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...

 levels in the lake remain problematic.

Vegetation

The native coniferous trees in Wilcox Lake's watershed include White Spruce

White Spruce

Picea glauca is a species of spruce native to boreal forests in the north of North America, from central Alaska east to Newfoundland, and south to northern Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine; there is also an isolated population in the...

, Eastern Hemlock

Eastern Hemlock

Tsuga canadensis, also known as eastern or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as pruche du Canada, is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from northeastern Minnesota eastward through southern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and south in the Appalachian...

, White Pine

Eastern White Pine

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...

, Red Pine

Red Pine

Pinus resinosa, commonly known as the red pine or Norway pine, is pine native to North America. The Red Pine occurs from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south to Pennsylvania, with several smaller, disjunct populations occurring in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia, as well...

, Eastern White Cedar and Tamarack. The native deciduous trees include Red Maple

Red Maple

Acer rubrum , is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas...

, Silver Maple

Silver Maple

The silver maple —also called creek maple, river maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, water maple, or white maple—is a species of maple native to eastern North America in the eastern United States and Canada...

, Sugar Maple

Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas...

, Red Oak, White Oak

White Oak

White Oak may refer to:* Quercus alba, a species commonly known as the White Oak* any of various trees from the botanical section Quercus within the list of Quercus species* a 1921 silent western written/produced by and starring William S...

, Burr Oak

Bur oak

Quercus macrocarpa, the Bur Oak, sometimes spelled Burr Oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus sect. Quercus, native to North America in the eastern and midwestern United States and south-central Canada...

, Balsam Poplar

Balsam poplar

The balsam poplars — also known as Populus sect. Tacamahaca — are a group of about 10 species of poplars, indigenous to North America and eastern Asia, distinguished by the balsam scent of their buds, the whitish undersides of their leaves, and the leaf petiole being round in cross-section...

, Trembling Aspen

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

, Large-Tooth Aspen, White Ash

White Ash

For another species referred to as white ash, see Eucalyptus fraxinoides.Fraxinus americana is a species of Fraxinus native to eastern North America found in mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern...

, Black Ash, Blue Ash

Blue Ash

Fraxinus quadrangulata is a species of Fraxinus native primarily to the Midwestern United States, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populations exist in Alabama, Southern Ontario, and small sections of the Appalachian Mountains...

, Green Ash

Green Ash

Fraxinus pennsylvanica is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas....

, Basswood, Paper Birch

Paper Birch

Betula papyrifera is a species of birch native to northern North America.-Description:...

, Pin Cherry

Pin cherry

Prunus pensylvanica, also known as bird cherry, fire cherry, pin cherry, and red cherry, is a North American cherry species in the genus Prunus.-Distribution:...

 and Black Cherry. The native wildflowers include Purple Coneflower

Echinacea

Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have...

, Yellow Coneflower

Yellow Coneflower

Yellow Coneflower can refer to:*Rudbeckia pinnata, flowering plant*Echinacea paradoxa, flowering plant...

, Flat-topped Aster, Heath Aster, Smooth Aster, Silky Aster, Ox-eyed Susan, Black-eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta

Rudbeckia hirta, the Black-eyed Susan, with the other common names of: Brown-eyed Susan, Brown Betty, Brown Daisy , Gloriosa Daisy, Golden Jerusalem, Poorland Daisy, Yellow Daisy, and Yellow Ox-eye Daisy. It is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae...

, Bluebeard Lily, Wood Lily, Trout Lily, Common Strawberry

Virginia Strawberry

The Virginia Strawberry is one of two species of strawberry that were hybridized to create the modern domesticated Garden Strawberry...

, Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca, commonly called Common Milkweed, Butterfly flower, Silkweed, Silky Swallow-wort, Virginia Silkweed, is a herbaceous plant species. It is in the genus Asclepias, making it a type of milkweed. This species is native to most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding...

, Blazing Star

Blazing Star

is a scrolling shooter video game for the Neo Geo home game system. It is the sequel to the acclaimed Neo Geo shooter Pulstar, which was itself a close cousin to the R-Type franchise...

, Fireweed

Fireweed

Epilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed , Great Willow-herb , or Rosebay Willowherb , is a perennial herbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae...

, Star Flower

Trientalis borealis

Trientalis borealis is a North American woodland perennial, it is also known as the Starflower. The starflower grows up to 9 inches tall and has one or two white flowers which consist of seven petals that form a star-like shape. The flowers are found on top of stalks which are above the lanceolate...

, Wild Columbine

Wild Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis is a herbaceous perennial native to woodland and rocky slopes in eastern North America, prized for its red and yellow flowers. It readily hybridizes with other species in the genus.-Description:Height is...

 and Wild Bergamot. Aquatic vegetation that is native to the lake itself include Bulrush

Schoenoplectus

Schoenoplectus is a genus of about 80 species of sedges with a cosmopolitan distribution. Note that the name bulrush is also applied to species in the unrelated genus Typha...

es, cattails, Water Arums, Water Plantain

Alismataceae

The water-plantains are a family of flowering plants, comprising 11 genera and between 85-95 species. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the greatest number of species in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

s, Water Lilies

Nymphaeaceae

Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...

, Arrowhead

Arrowhead

An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used...

s, Blue Flag Irises, Smartweeds and Pickeral Weed

Pontederia

Pontederia is a genus of tristylous aquatic plants, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. Pontederia is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it is found in shallow water or on mud...

s. Native shrubs found around the lake include Speckled Alder, Smooth Serviceberry, Allegheny Serviceberry, Nannyberry, Red Osier, Gray Dogwood

Northern Swamp Dogwood

Cornus racemosa is a shrubby plant species growing to 5 m tall. Its native from southeastern Canada and northeastern United States. It is a member of the dogwood genus Cornus and the family Cornaceae.Plants produce many stems and sucker much with older stems having distinctively gray colored...

, Silky Dogwood, Broad-leaved Meadowsweet

Spiraea latifolia

Spiraea latifolia, commonly known as Broadleaf Meadowsweet , is a shrub in the Rosaceae family.-External links:**...

, Swamp Rose

Rosa palustris

Rosa palustris is a shrub in the rose family native to much of eastern North America. It can be found from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the north, south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Ontario.-Description:...

, Spicebush, Buttonbush, Shining Willow, Slender Willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

, Black Willow

Black Willow

Salix nigra is a species of willow native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas.-Description:...

 and Pussywillow.

Animal life

Indigenous animal life includes Muskrats, Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

The Great Horned Owl, , also known as the Tiger Owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas.-Description:...

s and Painted Turtle

Painted Turtle

The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle...

s. Some fish and bird species also thrive in the lake, including largemouth bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, various sunfishes

Centrarchidae

The sunfishes are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus . The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies...

, yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, crappie

Crappie

Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...

, perch

Perch

Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...

, and northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

.

Human usage

The town of Richmond Hill maintains three recreational parks along the shores of Wilcox Lake. Jesse Venek Park, Sunset Beach Park and North Shore Parkette are small municipal parks with picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

ing areas. The Fish & Wildlife Sanctuary/Pike Hatchery is left in a natural state. The lake itself is used for fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

, windsurfing

Windsurfing

Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...

, Kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

, and boating

Boating

Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...

. The lake also has float planes land there regularly.