Eagle Heights is an elevated area located south of Koksilah Ridge on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is centered at 48°40′N, 123°46′W. Its summit lies about 836 meters (2,743 feet) above sea level. Populated areas where it is visible include North Saanich, Sidney, and Shawnigan Lake.
Its bedrock lithology is dominated by Upper Triassic period basalt at and around the summit. This formation is bordered on the west by Jurassic period volcanics which are of more variable composition. To the north, east and south is a complex of Pennsylvanian age argillite, chert, diabase and greywacke. A band of limestone lies within this complex on the southeast side between 550 and 610 meters (1,804 - 2,001 feet).
Most soils on Eagle Heights are shallow, stony gravelly sandy loams with podzol profile development. The forests they support belong to the Coastal Western Hemlock zone with Douglas-fir, western hemlock and western red cedar as the most common trees. Lower elevations near Koksilah River Provincial Park are home to arbutus, Garry oak and numerous rare plant species.
Loggers have harvested Eagle Heights over the years, leaving clear-cut areas which are most eye-catching when a snow cover is present. A particularly large clear area was present around the summit in the 1970s. This has since regenerated to native coniferous forest. In recent years the Heights were logged less heavily than neighboring hills until new logging activity began on part of the lower eastern slope in 2011.
Famous quotes containing the words eagle and/or heights:
“The Eagle has landed.”
—Neil Armstrong (b. 1930)
“This monument, so imposing and tasteful, fittingly typifies the grand and symmetrical character of him in whose honor it has been builded. His was “the arduous greatness of things done.” No friendly hands constructed and placed for his ambition a ladder upon which he might climb. His own brave hands framed and nailed the cleats upon which he climbed to the heights of public usefulness and fame.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)