Clearwater Lake (British Columbia)

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Clearwater Lake
HuntleyView.ClearwaterLake.jpg
Clearwater Lake
Canada British Columbia relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Clearwater Lake
Location British Columbia
Coordinates 52°14′N120°12′W / 52.233°N 120.200°W / 52.233; -120.200
Primary inflows Clearwater River
Primary outflows Clearwater River
Basin  countriesCanada
Max. length24 km (14.9 mi)
Max. width2.6 km (1.6 mi)
Surface area33.26 km2 (12.84 sq mi)
Average depth101.6 m (333 ft)
Max. depth197 m (646 ft) [1]
Water volume3.38 km3 (0.81 cu mi)
Shore length157.97 km (36 mi)
Surface elevation680 m (2,231 ft)
Islands None
SettlementsNone
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.
Aurora at Clearwater Lake Clearwater Lake, Wells Gray Provincial Park.jpg
Aurora at Clearwater Lake

Clearwater Lake is one of six large lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada,. [2] The Clearwater River enters the lake at its north end, flowing from Hobson Lake and Azure Lake, and also drains the lake. There are several small streams that flow into Clearwater Lake, but it has no significant tributaries. [3]

Contents

Formation

The basin occupied by Clearwater Lake was scoured by glaciers during several ice ages, including the Wisconsin Ice Age which ended in this region about 10,000 years ago. The basin subsequently filled with meltwater, but its depth has never been measured reliably. The deepest point is believed to be just east of Diver's Bluff. When Dragon Cone erupted about 8,500 years ago, the lava flowed 15 km (9 mi) southwest to the Clearwater River, damming it to a height of 3 m (10 ft) and raising the level of existing Clearwater Lake just upstream. This flow is just one example of volcanic activity that has occurred in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field during the last 500,000 years. [4] [5]

Osprey Falls occurs where the Clearwater River empties out of Clearwater Lake. The waterfall is the height of the lava dam, but is over 500 m (1,640 ft) wide along an L-shaped brink. Osprey Falls is very hazardous to boaters on Clearwater Lake because of the strong current in the southern 3 km (1.9 mi). Up to 2020, 20 people had been swept over Osprey Falls and only three survived. [3]

Clearwater Lake with Garnet Peak (center) and Mount Huntley (left) Clearwater Lake Garnet Peak.jpg
Clearwater Lake with Garnet Peak (center) and Mount Huntley (left)

Access and trails

The Clearwater Valley Road (also called Wells Gray Park Road) ends at Clearwater Lake. Wells Gray Park's largest campgrounds, Clearwater Lake and Falls Creek, are adjacent to Osprey Falls and have 80 sites total. Lake tours and a water taxi service operate from near the campgrounds. The public boat launching ramp is 3 km (1.9 mi) further up the lake. [3]

A trail follows the lakeshore from the water taxi dock to the public boat launch. It continues for 1.5 km (0.9 mi), then climbs away from the lake to a viewpoint above the Easter Bluffs.

At the north end of Clearwater Lake, a portage trail provides access for canoeists and kayakers to nearby Azure Lake. The Hobson Lake trail also starts here and is 13 km (8.1 mi) long; it is a rigorous trail and hikers must ford Lickskillet Creek above Sundt Falls as the bridge washed out in 1998. [3]

Some older maps show a trail to Azure and Zodiac Mountains from the east shore of Clearwater Lake, but this trail is no longer passable.

Seven campgrounds with a few sites at each are located along the east and west shores of Clearwater Lake. The only access is by boat.

Naming

The Overlanders expedition to the Cariboo goldfields rafted down the North Thompson River in 1862. When they arrived at the mouth of the Clearwater River, they noted its distinct clarity compared to the muddy North Thompson and named it Clear Water. The lake was probably seen by white prospectors in 1866 and the river's name was extended to the lake.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clearwater River (British Columbia)</span> River in British Columbia, Canada

The Clearwater River is the largest tributary of the North Thompson River, joining it at the community of Clearwater, British Columbia. The Clearwater rises from glaciers in the Cariboo Mountains and flows in a mostly southerly direction for 201 km (125 mi) to the North Thompson. Its entire course, except the last 5 km (3 mi), is within Wells Gray Provincial Park. Its confluence with the North Thompson is protected by North Thompson River Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramid Mountain (Wells Gray-Clearwater)</span>

Pyramid Mountain is a subglacial mound located on the Murtle Plateau in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Horse Bluff</span> Volcano in British Columbia, Canada

White Horse Bluff is a subaqueous volcano in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada.

Dragon Cone is a monogenetic cinder cone located in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia. It is the source of a 15 km (9 mi) long lava flow, called Dragon's Tongue. This lava covered the floor of narrow Falls Creek Valley and terminated at the Clearwater River, damming it to a height of 3 m (10 ft) and raising the level of existing Clearwater Lake upstream. Geologists have recovered some peat buried by the lava and radiocarbon dating produced an age of 7560 years plus or minus 100 years. Flows from nearby Flourmill Cone, Kostal Cone and Spanish Lake Cones rest on glaciated bedrock without an intervening paleosol, suggesting an early Holocene age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Ray (British Columbia)</span> Mountain in British Columbia, Canada

Mount Ray, also known as Ray Mountain, is a subglacial mound in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. Mount Ray last erupted during the Pleistocene. It is part of the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.

Buck Hill is a hill in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located 17 km (10.6 mi) north of Clearwater. It rises from the west slope of Trophy Mountain. Buck Hill is just outside the boundary of Wells Gray Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flourmill Volcanoes</span> Volcanoes in British Columbia, Canada

The Flourmill Volcanoes, also known as The Flourmills, are a small volcano range near the west boundary of Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Located north of Mahood Lake and west of the Clearwater River, they form part of the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.

McLeod Hill is a tuya, located 41 km (25 mi) north of Clearwater in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spahats Creek Falls</span> Waterfall on Spahats Creek in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Spahats Creek Falls, also called Spahats Falls, is a waterfall on Spahats Creek within Wells Gray Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. Common references place the falls at around 60 m (197 ft) tall, but taking into account the second tier, it is closer to 75–80 meters tall. It is a popular stop for tourists and especially motorcoach tours since it is only 10 km (6.2 mi) off the busy Yellowhead Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canim Falls</span> Waterfall in Cariboo, British Columbia, Canada

Canim Falls is a 25 metre high waterfall on the Canim River between Canim Lake and Mahood Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park in the Cariboo region of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The waterfall has eroded steadily upstream and created a 4 km (2.5 mi) long canyon cut into a lava plateau associated with the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahood Lake</span> Lake in British Columbia, Canada

Mahood Lake is a lake in the South Cariboo region of the Interior of British Columbia in Wells Gray Provincial Park. It is drained by the Mahood River, a tributary of the Clearwater River which has cut a deep canyon into Cambrian rocks and Pleistocene glacial moraines. Mahood Lake is fed by the short Canim River, which drains nearby Canim Lake to the west via Canim Falls and Mahood Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canim River</span> River in British Columbia, Canada

The Canim River is a river in the South Cariboo region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It begins at the outlet of Canim Lake and runs 1.8 km (1.1 mi) to Canim Falls, then continues 8 km (5.0 mi) via a canyon cut into a lava plateau to Mahood Lake. A second outlet from Canim Lake, also part of the Canim River, flows over Mahood Falls and joins the Canim Falls branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kostal Lake</span> Lake in British Columbia, Canada

Kostal Lake is a lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of Murtle Lake and east of Clearwater Lake.

Ray Lake is a lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is fed by and drained by Falls Creek which flows into the Clearwater River at its outlet from Clearwater Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field</span> Volcanic field in British Columbia, Canada

The Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field, also called the Clearwater Cone Group, is a potentially active monogenetic volcanic field in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located approximately 130 km (81 mi) north of Kamloops. It is situated in the Cariboo Mountains of the Columbia Mountains and on the Quesnel and Shuswap Highlands. As a monogenetic volcanic field, it is a place with numerous small basaltic volcanoes and extensive lava flows.

McDougall Lake is a lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It drains through File Creek into Murtle Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azure Lake</span> Lake in British Columbia, Canada

Azure Lake is a fjord-like lake located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is an expansion of the Azure River which rises from an unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains. The outflow is also called the Azure River, but it is only 50 m (164 ft) long before it flows into the Clearwater River. Azure Lake is one of the six major lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Hobson Lake is the uppermost lake on the Clearwater River in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Hobson Lake is one of the six major lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Gray Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,415 square kilometres. It is British Columbia's fifth largest provincial park, after Tweedsmuir, Tatshenshini, Spatsizi and Northern Rocky Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Hugh Neave</span> Mountain in British Columbia, Canada

Mount Hugh Neave is a mountain in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located between Hobson Lake to the west and Goat Creek to the south. Situated in the Cariboo Mountains of the Columbia Mountains, it is the seventh highest mountain in Wells Gray Provincial Park with an elevation of 2,829 m (9,281 ft).

References

  1. "Clearwater Lake" (PDF). Ministry of the Environment. Province of British Columbia. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  2. "Clearwater Lake". BC Geographical Names .
  3. 1 2 3 4 Neave, Roland (2023). Exploring Wells Gray Park, 7th edition. Wells Gray Tours, Kamloops, BC. ISBN   978-0-9681932-3-5.
  4. Catalogue of Canadian Volcanoes - Wells Gray - Clearwater volcano field Archived 2006-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Hickson, Cathie with Hollinger, Jason (2014). Wells Gray Rocks. Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC