page_title: Speed River
section_title: Parks and conservation areas
hierarchical_section_title: Speed River / Parks and conservation areas
caption_attribution_description: English: View of riparian restoration of east bank of Speed River, Guelph, Ontario
context_page_description: The Speed River is a river that flows through Wellington County and the Region of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It flows south from its source near Orton, through Guelph, where it is joined by the Eramosa River, then through the towns of Hespeler and Preston, finally uniting with the Grand River in north-west Cambridge.
context_section_description: Guelph Lake Conservation Area is on the shore of Guelph Lake, which was formed by the damming of the Speed River. It is owned and managed by the Grand River Conservation Authority.
  Riverside Park in Guelph, Ontario, is built beside the Speed River, and it is one of the oldest parks in Ontario.  It forms part of an attempted natural buffer along the Speed: "OPIRG-Guelph and other community groups have worked, in partnership with the City to rehabilitate the local river environment. Today, the river's edge is allowed to naturalize, benefiting the environment and saving maintenance. The City of Guelph's River Systems Management Plan is a positive approach to river management [whose] vision is to protect the rivers' role within the city, by featuring them in urban design, and enhancing and protecting ecological diversity, while providing beneficial uses for the community." Chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers have been abandoned, in an effort of produce a narrow buffer strip within the thirty meter "riparian zone" between the rivers and their surrounding parklands, including river paths. "The buffer provides food, habitat, and a corridor for wildlife, as well as improving water quality by minimizing erosion, acting as a filter and providing shade, to lower water temperature", increasing oxygen, thus decreasing algae and bacterial contents.
  In the town of Hespeler, part of Cambridge, there are several parks on the banks of the Speed River, such as Jacob's Landing, Riverside Park, Hespeler Mill Pond and Ellacott Lookout.
  Chilligo Conservation Area, in Cambridge, resides at the confluence of the Speed River and Chilligo Creek. It is owned and managed by the GRCA.
  The former site of Idylwild Park is on the Speed River in Cambridge. A portion, along the southern bank, is now a conservation area that is owned and managed by the GRCA.
  Riverside Park, Cambridge's largest park, is on the banks of the Speed River.
  Linear Park, in Cambridge, lies at the confluence of the Speed and Grand rivers.
caption: Riparian restoration along n. bank of Speed, Guelph, Oct. 2008
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