Dam Good Place To Swim

September 11, 2025

Harewood’s Colliery Dam Park is a wonderful place to swim.

The Park sits on Harewood’s old coal-mining grounds. The dams were built in 1910 and 1911 by the Western Fuel Company, to supply water for washing coal and for use around the mines. The reservoirs also fed nearby South Harewood homes for a time.

After mining waned, the area shifted from an industrial site to a community green space. The City of Nanaimo assumed the park in 1975 when Harewood was amalgamated, and it’s grown into one of the city’s most-loved nature escapes, with beautiful trails, tall trees, and warm-weather swims included.

In 2012–2013, concerns over dam safety led the City of Nanaimo to consider removing the Colliery Dams, sparking a major community backlash.

Harewood wasn’t having it. Public outcry through the Colliery Dams Preservation Society eventually pushed the city council to fix and preserve the Dam. After years of debate, council voted in 2015 to preserve the dams by building an auxiliary spillway, completed in 2016, ensuring both public safety and the park’s survival as one of Harewood’s most cherished green spaces.

This year has been a great summer and still warm enough to swim! I’m typing this from my official Harewood.life office – sitting on the grass next to the stairs at the First Dam – after taking a refreshing dip.