Opeongo Lake

Opeongo Lake
Lake
Name origin: Algonquian opeauwingauk meaning "sandy narrows"
Country Canada
Province Ontario
Region Northeastern Ontario
District Nipissing
Part Nipissing, Unorganized, South Part
Part of Ottawa River drainage basin
Elevation 403 m (1,322 ft)
Coordinates
Mouth Mattawa River
 - coordinates
Depth 14.6 m (48 ft)
Area 5.8 km2 (2 sq mi)
Location of Opeongo Lake in Ontario.

Opeongo Lake is a lake in the Ottawa River drainage basin in the geographic townships of Bower, Dickson, Preston and Sproule in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the largest lake in Algonquin Provincial Park[1] and the source of the Opeongo River.

It has three arms, North, East and South, joined by narrows into a Y shape. The total area is 5.8 square kilometres (2.2 sq mi), the average depth 14.6 metres (47 ft 11 in) and the maximum depth 49.4 metres (162 ft 1 in).[1] The primary outflow is the Opeongo River at the southeast tip of Annie Bay on the East Arm, controlled by the Opeongo Lake Dam, which flows via the Madawaska River to the Ottawa River.

A store with camping supplies and dock, Algonquin access point 11[2] and the Harkness Laboratory of Fisheries Research[1] are located on Sproule Bay at south end of South Arm and are all accessible from Ontario Highway 60. Consequently, the lake is a popular starting point for canoe trips into the interior of the park.

Opeongo lake was to have been the endpoint of the Opeongo Line, one of a series of settlement roads built to open up this section of the province.

The lake's name comes from the Algonquian word opeauwingauk meaning "sandy narrows".

Tributaries

clockwise from Sproule Bay on the South Arm

References

  1. ^ a b c "A Little About Algonquin's Largest Lake". Harkness Laboratory of Fisheries Research. http://www.harkness.ca/opeongo.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
  2. ^ "Lake Opeongo". Alqonquin Outfitters. http://www.algonquinoutfitters.com/abt/3e.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23.