Stuart Lake

BW

Stuart Lake ( Dakelh: Nak'albun ) is a lake in British Columbia Interior in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Fort St. James sits on the shore near its outflow, the Stuart River. The Stuart Lake has a length of 66 km and a width of 10 km. It is relatively shallow with an average depth of 26 m. The catchment area of ​​14600 km ² comprises Stuart Lake.

The Stuart Lake is one of the " Nechako Lakes " so-called. He belongs to the river system of the Fraser River.

The Stuart Lake offers recreational opportunities such as boating, swimming, sunbathing on one of the many sandy beaches, fishing, water skiing, camping, snowmobiling, ice fishing, ice sailing, dog sledding. Also, here you can see very old symbols of the aborigines.

Two provincial parks with camping facilities, pairing Sowchea Beach and Bay, located on the southern shore of the lake. In addition, there are several motels, lodges and private campsites in the region. Moorings are available at various marinas.

In Fort St. James and several Indian communities in the catchment area of ​​the lake are several sawmills. The Stuart Lake is usually ice-covered from mid-December to mid-April. The fauna of the lake include rainbow trout, lake trout and burbot American.

Hydrographic characteristics of the lake

The annual runoff is 4.1 km ³. This corresponds to a mean discharge of 130 m³ / s

History

The Stuart Lake is important for the history of British Columbia, since the first settlement, Fort St. James, was established, the non-Indian origin. James McDougall attended the first white man the lake in 1806. McDougall undertook his explorations as an assistant to Simon Fraser.

Fraser and other members of his expedition built soon after a trading post of the North West Company with a garrison, which was led by John Stuart, was the honor of the English name chosen for the lake.

The original name in the Dakelh language is Nak'albun, literally " Mt Pope- seas "to the mountain that towers over him, Nak'al, which is called in English Pope Mt.

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