Stuart Lake

Infobox lake
lake_name = Stuart Lake
image_lake =
caption_lake =
image_bathymetry =
caption_bathymetry =
location = British Columbia
coords = coord|54|33|N|124|35|W|region:CA-BC_type:waterbody|display=inline,title
type =
inflow =
outflow =
catchment = 14600 km²
basin_countries = Canada
length = 66 km
width = 10 km
area = 358 km²
depth = 26 m
max-depth = 95 m
volume = 9.3 km³
residence_time =
shore = 170 km
elevation = 680 m
islands =
cities = Fort St. James

Stuart Lake or Nak'albun (IPA: nak'albʌn) is a lake situated in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The town of Fort St. James is situated by the lake near the outlet (Stuart River). Stuart Lake is 66 km long, 10 km wide and relatively shallow, with a average depth of 26m.

Stuart Lake offers boating, swimming and sunbathing at sandy beaches, fishing, water skiing, viewing ancient aboriginal pictographs, camping, snowmobiling, ice fishing, ice sailing, and dog sleddingTwo provincial park campgrounds, Paarens Beach and Sowchea Bay, are located on the southern shore of the lake, and there are several motels, lodges and private campgrounds in the area. Moorage is available at several marinas.

Fort St. James has several lumber mills as do several smaller aboriginal communities in the basin. The lake is usually ice-covered from mid-December to mid-April. Stuart Lake contains rainbow trout, char or lake trout, and burbot fish.

Hydrographical characteristics of the lake

*Discharge 4.1 km³/yr

History

Stuart Lake is important to British Columbia history, being the location of one of the oldest non-native settlements in the province, Fort St. James. The first non-native to visit the lake was James McDougall in 1806. McDougall's explorations were undertaken as an assistant to Simon Fraser.Fraser and other members of his expedition soon established a Northwest Company trading post, leaving behind for the winter a garrison led by clerk John Stuart, in whose honor the English name of the lake was given.

The original name, in the Dakelh language, is Nak'albun (IPA: nak'albʌn), literally "Mt. Pope Lake", after the mountain that overlooks it, Nak'al (IPA: nak'al), known in English as "Mt. Pope".

ources

* [http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/boating/north/norlrglake.htm Boating the Large Lakes of Northern British Columbia]
*PDF| [http://www.rem.sfu.ca/FRAP/S_31.pdf Contaminants in Lake Sediments and Fish by Robie W. Macdonald, D. Patrick Shaw and Colin Gray] |745 KiB
*Poser, William J. (1998) Nak'albun/Dzinghubun Whut'enne Bughuni (Stuart/Trembleur Lake Carrier Lexicon). Vanderhoof, BC: Yinka Dene Language Institute. Second edition.