Swan Lake was named after the hundreds of trumpeter and tundra swans that sop over at the lake during spring and fall migration. The lake is a staging site for more than 5,000 birds a day and is the largest “loose” nesting colony of Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow in the province. Other birds that frequent Swan Lake include western grebe, surf scoter, oldsquaw, California gull, American bittern, common loon, red-necked grebe, American widgeon, hooded merganser, scoters, lesser scaup, goldeneyes, bufflehead, coot, sandpipers, yellowlegs, killdeer, eastern kingbird, warblers, blackbirds, red-eyed and warbling vireo, hermit thrush, swallows and many others.

Swan Lake Park is a small, picturesque, lakeshore park that offers boating and swimming. Visitors can also enjoy a grassy campground and day-use area along with a baseball diamonds and playground. Swan Lake Park provides representation of the Kiskatinaw Plateau ecosection and is covered by the boreal white and black spruce biogeoclimatic zone. Vegetation consists predominately of trembling aspen, balsam poplar, white spruce and willows. Swan Lake is the largest water body in the Alberta plateau. The maximum depth is three metres, but the average depth is less than two metres.

Wildlife: Black bears frequent the area, as well as the occasional moose and white tail or mule deer. Smaller animals such as muskrat and beaver can be seen around the lakeshore and the Tupper River which drains into the lake through the park.

Fishing is quite popular at Swan Lake. Species include Walleye, northern pike, yellow perch and burbot. The lake is too shallow and too warm to support cold water salmonid species such as trout and char.

The park is located 35 km southeast of Dawson Creek, with a 2 km gravel access off Highway 2.