Mount Pleasant Nature Ponds

The Nature Ponds Park is a beautiful natural space in the village of Mount Pleasant. The historic fish hatchery and ponds are the focal point of the park. However, there are walking trails through the park, which also backs onto the LE&N rail trail system.

Stocked ponds are open to the public for fishing; however, you require a fishing license from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

This is a great area for nature walks or a picnic. Public washrooms are available, and a picnic shelter is available for events. Contact us if you wish to book the picnic shelter.

Volunteers from the Mount Pleasant Optimist Club maintain and manage the park, including grass cutting, garbage collection, and general upkeep so that the community can enjoy this beautiful amenity.

History of the Mount Pleasant Ponds

The Mount Pleasant Nature Park is a 25-acre property that sits in the valley of Mount Pleasant Creek. The creek runs along the north side of the park before flowing under Mount Pleasant Road on its way to join the Grand River. The creek is one of a few cold water trout streams in the county. As such, the creek is not open for fishing, though the park’s ponds have been a noted fishing spot for generations.

The features of the Nature Park originated when glacial melt waters flowing eastward to the Grand River carved a wide channel through a sandy glacial moraine. The area is now a much-altered and disturbed site that struggles to overcome centuries of human activity - farming, an operational mill and provincial hatchery. However, today, the Nature Park is a significant cultural and natural heritage site in the County of Brant.

History

As a highly desirable natural mill site, the property was owned at various times by several leading land speculators and early Mount Pleasant settlers, including Absolom Shade (founder of Galt, Ontario) and the Nelles and Racey families. But even before white settlement began in 1799, native people used the area for fishing and gathering.

By 1825, "Squire" James Racey, a wealthy and influential figure in Mount Pleasant affairs, had built his "log castle" on the south ridge overlooking the valley, and by 1842, Elijah Haight operated a carding and woollen mill that stood on the site until 1911.

After the establishment of the Ontario Department of Game and Fisheries in 1907, there was a gradual migration of fish culture stations to the province, beginning with Mount Pleasant in 1909.

At that time, the carding and woollen mill was demolished to make way for the conversion of the site to the first-ever provincial fish hatchery for the experimental rearing of bass(1). The natural topography of the site was greatly altered to create seven rearing ponds for species such as brown trout, brook trout, and largemouth bass. The building currently on site was built by the province in 1915 to house the hatchery operations.

When construction of the hatchery began in 1909-1911, this was a wet lowland meadow, described as a "rough swamp bottom," deemed otherwise useless but ideal for a hatchery because of its plentiful water and proximity to the TH&B Railroad for shipping. Mount Pleasant Creek, which had meandered through its valley, was diverted and dammed in several places. Ponds were dug and contained within berms, and various buildings were erected.

Photographs from c1913 show a bare landscape with original vegetation removed. But by 1915, a transformed site was considered "splendid," one of the "beauty spots of the Province" owing to the "numerous fine flower beds with prolific blooms" and the "grounds being completely sodded" and groomed regularly. It has already attracted thousands of visitors. Later, ornamental trees and the Red Pine plantation were planted. Such an approach proved unsustainable, and areas of the park are reverting to a wild appearance, with work being done to repair some of the ecological damage caused by past practices.

In 1962, the hatchery was changed to a public fishing "catchery", another first for Mount Pleasant. The seven ponds were drained, deepened, and enlarged to form the present three ponds, each approximately 0.4 hectares. The original dam on Mount Pleasant Creek was replaced, and the reservoir was enlarged in the mid-1960s. According to provincial records, the Mount Pleasant fish hatchery operated from 1909 to 1965 and was used to rear brook trout, lake trout and bass (1).

In addition to the main water supply from the reservoir, the ponds are supplied with fresh, cold water from artesian wells drilled sometime prior to 1930. There is continual turnover of water in the ponds via a stand-pipe system, and a spill-way discharges overflow back into the creek.

The Mount Pleasant Provincial Fish Hatchery was the only supervised provincial fishing area in the province. In its heyday, it was so popular that on season opening day, traffic on Highway 24 (Mount Pleasant Road) would be jammed and the road lined on both sides with cars for hundreds of metres. The ponds were restocked twice a week from May to September. Staff managed the crowds and the site, made attractive with groomed and planted lawn areas.

Despite its popularity, the site was closed by the Ministry of Natural Resources in 1981. After a period of private ownership and gradual decline, the park is now owned by the County of Brant. The Mount Pleasant Optimist Club volunteers to maintain the park.

Designated by the County of Brant under the Ontario Heritage Act for its heritage and ecological significance, this park is a valuable heritage and recreational asset worthy of investment in its refurbishment and promotion to users of all ages.

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