emailMill Hill Regional Park
Learning Centre
Natural History
To the Summit
A hike to the summit starts on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, above the creek, in the Douglas-fir forest. This forest is dominated by Douglas-fir, grand fir, broadleaf maple, red alder and Western red cedar. Sword fern, salal and Oregon grape line the trails. Columbia blacktail deer frequently browse here, and the mischievous raven favours this forest for nesting.
In the cedar wetlands, spikes of bright yellow skunk cabbage tower above delicate plants like creeping and western buttercup, false lily-of-the-valley, foam flower and yellow wood violets. Halfway up Mill Hill, the trail opens to groves of arbutus and Garry oak, and the invasive and prolific introduced Scotch broom.
Close to the summit, watch out for hairy manzanita, a large shrub resembling a miniature sprawling arbutus. Rock surfaces nearby are decorated by the succulent plant, stonecrop.
Spring Wildflowers
Mill Hill is famous for its wildflowers. In early spring, white fawn lilies are the first to appear. Camas, an intense bluish-violet lily, is stunning amid the Garry oaks. Members of the orchid family bloom in the spring and summer: striped and spotted coral root, rattlesnake plantain and calypso orchid.
Download Wildflowers
of Mill Hill brochure (pdf
)
Cultural History
Mill Hill's past is as rich and varied as its landscape. Prior to European contact, the Straits Salish people, the Lekwammen, camped at the mouth of Millstream Creek. The creek provided an abundance of shellfish, salmon and even the occasional marine mammal. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Lekwammen also ventured inland to hunt deer, elk and duck. Artifacts show that people lived in this area as long ago as 3000 years.
The creek and hill are named after the first sawmill built by the Hudson's Bay Company in British Columbia, in 1848 at Mill Falls, just outside the park boundary. Rain was heavy the summer the company deemed Mill Falls sufficient for powering a mill. However, after construction, it was discovered that Millstream Creek was more typically a meandering stream during summer. By 1855, the mill was made redundant by a steam-powered mill at Craigflower Farm. From the 1940s until 1980, various government buildings were located on the Mill Hill property. Today Mill Hill Regional Park doubles as CRD Parks headquarters.
Download
A Cultural History of Three Regional Parks report ( pdf)
