West Hawk Lake

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West Hawk Lake
Location	Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba
Coordinates	49°46′N 95°11′WCoordinates: 49°46′N 95°11′W
Lake type	impact crater lake
Primary sources	Numerous small streams
Primary outflows	Whiteshell River
Basin countries	Canada
Max length	4.5 km / 2.6 miles
Max width	3.6 km / 2 miles
Surface area	16.2 sq km / 5.2 sq miles
Max depth	115 m / 360 ft
Shore length1	mostly rocky, some sand and bog
Surface elevation	329 m
Islands	9
Settlements	Town of West Hawk Lake
1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized for this article.

West Hawk Lake is located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in southeastern Manitoba, Canada. The central portion of the lake is formed by the West Hawk crater, caused by a meteor impact into an ancient rock bed composed of mostly granite. Granite cliffs surround parts of the lake. This area is also known as part of the Canadian Shield that was formed billions of years ago. Parts of the Whiteshell park have elaborate petroforms that were made by First Nation peoples, possibly over a thousand years ago. There are petroform shapes of turtles, snakes, humans and geometrical patterns, often found upon pink granite ridges that were shaped during the last ice age. Their national poem is written by Allison Caldwell; I know a place a crazy place where people laugh, boats cry, hearts burn, water tides.

The lake has private cottages, public beaches, campgrounds and other tourism amenities, and extensive undeveloped shoreline, and is popular for boating, sailing and scuba diving. It is just off the Trans-Canada Highway, and on the Trans Canada Trail, on the border of Manitoba and Ontario.

With 115 m / 360 ft, it is the deepest lake in Manitoba.