Kidston Lake
History
The area has been repeatedly logged, mostly in the 20th century. Until about 1963, a small logging operation with a mill was situated on the lake, and a large pile of sawdust subsequently accumulated. The Rocking Stone there used to be a popular picnic destination in Victorian times: people would travel from Halifax, climb upon it and spread their lunches while enjoying the sensation of rocking gently while seated upon the huge rock. The most popular swimming spot in the Spryfield area of HRM, its eastern shore was made into a municipal park and an artificial sandy beach was constructed. A subdivision was built nearby in the same time-frame (is still being added to, as of 2010), between the lake and the nearby subdivision of Thornhill Park, and further developments threaten the western shore of the lake.
Geology, biology and hydrology
Kidston Lake is situated on Devonian granite, which is part of a major igneous intrusion into the local Silurian slate of the "Meguma" group, which has been used to support the theory that the eastern part of Nova Scotia was once joined to NW Africa. The thin acidic soil supports relatively scrubby mixed forests dominated by spruce, fir, red maple and birch, extensive bogs and rocky barrens. The lake itself is fed mostly by underground springs and a small stream coming in at its south end. It drains at its north end, into a stream which runs into Kidston Pond, beside the old Kidston farm and estate. The south end is quite shallow and weedy, while the middle is up to 20 feet deep and provides good swimming. An earthen dam at the north end helps keep water levels up: it was built by loggers in the early part of the 1900s. The lake's water was polluted by fine sawdust until the 1990s, which reduced the amount of wildlife, but it has since cleared and fish can be found there now, as well as many frogs and invertebrate species. The lake is quite acidic, since its watershed is dominated by bogs and granite. Beavers live on the lake periodically, and currently (2011), there is an active beaver lodge in the northern end of the lake, on the NW shore.