Kelso/Glen Eden Conservation Area, Conservation area in Milton, Canada

Kelso/Glen Eden is a 3.97-square-kilometre conservation area in Milton, Ontario, on the Niagara Escarpment, owned by Conservation Halton. It holds Lake Kelso, a reservoir with a sandy swimming beach and a boardwalk to the boat rental shop, plus 20 campsites, 18 reservable picnic sites, hiking and mountain-bike trails, the Halton Region Museum and the Glen Eden ski centre. A pale grey limestone cliff with horizontal bands and dark crevices rises above the vegetation.

Kelso takes its name from the former Kelso quarry and picnic grounds on the Niagara Escarpment. In 1961 Allan Day, a founder of Conservation Halton, persuaded the landowner to sell the property to the Sixteen-Mile Creek Authority for $40,000. The authority then built a $325,000 water control dam, creating Lake Kelso to stop the spring flooding of Sixteen Mile Creek in Milton.

The name Kelso comes from the former settlement here, and the area is now run by Conservation Halton, which bought the land from a private owner in 1961 for $40,000. Visitors can see the Halton Region Museum on the grounds, and the reservoir's cold water is piped to Glen Eden for snow-making rather than drawn from Halton's municipal supply.

Kelso is reached from Milton via Steeles Avenue and Kelso Road, and the grounds hold marked hiking and mountain-biking trails plus 20 campsites and 18 reservable picnic sites. The beach, boardwalk and boat-rental shop sit along Lake Kelso, while Glen Eden and the Halton Region Museum stand on the same grounds. Trails cross the Niagara Escarpment slope, so expect uneven footing after rain.

Lake Kelso's very cold water is piped to Glen Eden to make snow, so the ski hill does not draw on Halton's main water utility. The reservoir was built for flood control after spring thaws repeatedly flooded Milton's main street.