Thutade Lake | |
---|---|
Location | British Columbia |
Coordinates | 56°53′N127°00′W / 56.883°N 127.000°W |
Primary inflows | Thutade Creek (Originating from Alma Peak, it is the most distant headwater of the Mackenzie River system) |
Primary outflows | Finlay River |
Basin countries | Canada |
Max. length | 40 km (25 mi) |
Max. width | 2 km (1.2 mi) |
Surface elevation | 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) |
Thutade Lake is located in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. About 40 km (25 mi) in length, and no more than about 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, the lake is primarily significant as the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. [1] The lake is at the head of the Finlay River, [2] which joins the Peace River via Williston Lake. The area is very remote, being located about 260 km (160 mi) north of Smithers, although several mining operations for ores containing copper, lead, zinc and silver have occurred around the lake. [3] [4] The largest of these is the Kemess Mine, an iron and copper property originally owned by Royal Oak Mines and now by Northgate Minerals, located in the valley of Kemess Creek, which is off the northeast end of Thutade Lake. The mine is accessed by the Omineca Resource Road and other resource routes, and is 400 km (250 mi) by road from Prince George. Just downstream from the outlet of Thutade Lake, the Finlay plunges over the 180-foot (55 m) Cascadero Falls, [5] and then through a series of cataracts in a twisting course until it begins its main northeastward trend. Cascadero Falls is slated for hydroelectric development in connection with the power needs of the area's mines.
South and west of Thutade Lake lies the continental divide, across which is the watershed of the Mosque River, a tributary of the Skeena River.
The first European to explore the lake and its surrounding area was Samuel Black in 1824. [6] The upper end of the lake is the Tatlatui Range, which is astride the Continental Divide of the Americas, and which with the adjoining valley of Tatlatui Lake forms Tatlatui Provincial Park.
The Peace River is a 1,923-kilometre-long (1,195 mi) river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the Slave River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River. The Finlay River, the main headwater of the Peace River, is regarded as the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. The combined Finlay–Peace–Slave–Mackenzie river system is the 13th longest river system in the world.
Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada.
The Finlay River is a 402 km long river in north-central British Columbia flowing north and thence south from Thutade Lake in the Omineca Mountains to Williston Lake, the impounded waters of the Peace River formed by the completion of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1968. Prior to this, the Finlay joined with the Parsnip River to form the Peace. The headwaters of the Finlay at Thutade Lake are considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. Deserters Canyon is located just north of Williston Lake.
The Kechika River is a tributary of the Liard River, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) long, in northern British Columbia, Canada. The Kechika flows generally northwest through the northernmost section of the Rocky Mountain Trench before turning east to join the Liard, a major branch of the Mackenzie River system. The river's 22,700 km2 (8,800 sq mi) drainage basin is characterized by high glaciated peaks, boreal forest, and open tundra. With no settlements, roads or dams along its course, the Kechika is considered "one of British Columbia's finest examples of wilderness and undisturbed wildlife habitat."
Kwadacha, also known as Fort Ware or simple Ware, is an aboriginal community in northern British Columbia, Canada, located in the Rocky Mountain Trench at the confluence of the Finlay, Kwadacha and Fox Rivers, in the Rocky Mountain Trench upstream from the end of the Finlay Reach of Williston Lake. The population is about 350. It is in the federal electoral riding of Prince George-Peace River.
Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is located in the northern portion of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 698, 659 hectares and encompasses the Spatsizi River and Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve. The park is a designated protected area that is intended for the conservation and research on caribou, grizzly bears, fish, and other wildlife species populations. Before the provincial park's establishment in 1975, the area was a historical hunting ground for local Indigenous communities like the Tahltan First Nations.It is the second largest provincial park in British Columbia.
Tatlatui Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the southern end of the Spatsizi Plateau and around the headwaters of the Firesteel River, part of the Finlay-Peace River basin and therefore in the Arctic drainage. Thutade Lake, at the head of the Firesteel and to the southeast of the park, is considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River.
The Omineca Mountains, also known as "the Ominecas", are a group of remote mountain ranges in the Boreal Cordillera of north-central British Columbia, Canada. They are bounded by the Finlay River on the north, the Rocky Mountain Trench on the east, the Nation Lakes on the south, and the upper reaches of the Omineca River on the west. They form a section of the Continental Divide, that, in this region, separates water drainage between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The lower course of the Omineca River flows through the heart of the range. To the south of the Ominecas is the Nechako Plateau, to the west the Skeena Mountains and Hazelton Mountains, to the north the Spatsizi Plateau and the Stikine Ranges, while east across the Rocky Mountain Trench are the Muskwa Ranges.
The British Columbia Interior, popularly referred to as the BC Interior or simply the Interior, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. While the exact boundaries are variously defined, the British Columbia Interior is generally defined to include the 14 regional districts that do not have coastline along the Pacific Ocean or Salish Sea, and are not part of the Lower Mainland. Other boundaries may exclude parts of or even entire regional districts, or expand the definition to include the regional districts of Fraser Valley, Squamish–Lillooet, and Kitimat–Stikine.
The Kemess Mine was an open-pit copper and gold mine, located just northeast of the foot of Thutade Lake, at the head of the Finlay River, in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was operated by Royal Oak Mines from 1998 to 1999, when it was bought by Northgate Minerals. Northgate operated the mine until its closure in 2011; that year Northgate was taken over by AuRico Gold. In 2014 AuRico Gold partitioned off its portion of Kemess Mine ownership creating a new company called AuRico Metals.
The Thumb is a mountain located 7 km (4 mi) south of Sitchiada Mountain on the east side of Bear Lake, on the divide between the upper Omineca River and the basin of the Bear River in the Omineca Country of the Central-North Interior of British Columbia, Canada. As the Omineca is part of the Arctic Ocean drainage, via the Peace and Mackenzie Rivers, and the Bear is in the basin of the Skeena River, which drains to the Pacific, The Thumb is located on the Continental Divide.
The Tatlatui Range is a large and very alpine mountain range on the east flank of the upper Skeena River in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has an area of 2307 km2 and is a subrange of the Omineca Mountains which in turn form part of the Interior Mountains. The range features several lakes, the largest of which, Thutade Lake, is at the head of the Finlay River, and is considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. Tatlatui Lake, the next largest lake in the range, to the northwest of Thutade Lake, is at the head of the Firesteel River, a tributary of the Finlay. Various summits of the range, which as described separates the Pacific and Arctic drainages, form part of the Continental Divide. Most of the range and its lakes are in Tatlatui Provincial Park.
The Firesteel River is the uppermost left tributary of the Finlay River in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The river originates at Tatlatui Lake, while the Finlay originates at the outlet of Thutade Lake, to the southeast, which is considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River.
Tatlatui Lake is a lake in the Tatlatui Range of the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is the source of the Firesteel River, the uppermost left tributary of the Finlay River, which begins just southeast at Thutade Lake, which is considered the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. The lake and adjoining summits are part of Tatlatui Provincial Park.
Cascadero Falls is a waterfall on the Finlay River in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located just below that river's head at the outlet of Thutade Lake. The height of the falls is 180 ft and below it there are numerous cascades or rapids in a twisting course prior to the river's general northeastward trend from this area. The falls are slated for hydroelectric development in connection with the area's mines, the largest of which is the Kemess Mine owned by Northgate Minerals Inc., located just east of the foot of Thutade Lake in the valley of Kemess Creek.
Metsantan Pass, 1,270 metres (4,167 ft), is a mountain pass in the Metsantan Range of the Omineca Mountains in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located between Metsantan Lake, in the drainage basin of the Stikine River (NW) and the headwaters of the Toodoggone River (SE), a tributary of the Finlay River which is part of the Peace-Mackenzie River drainage area, and therefore is located along the Continental Divide.
Vital Creek is a creek located in the Omineca Country region of British Columbia, flowing eastward from its source in the Vital Range to meet Silver Creek, joining that creek from the west about 5 miles from its mouth into the Omineca River, about 41 km northeast of Takla Landing.
Overlooking the Salmon Glacier, the Granduc Mine is a large copper mine which is situated on a rock ridge between a glacier and a cliff, some 22 miles (35 km) north of Stewart, BC at the north end of Summit Lake. It was an active mine from 1964 to 1984, having closed due to low copper prices.
Duncan Lake – known as Amazay in Sekani– is a natural 6 km (3.7 mi)-long wilderness fish-bearing lake with rainbow trout and whitefish populations, located at the headwaters of the Findlay watershed. in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Finlay River
The Mosque River is a tributary of the Skeena River in the Stikine Region of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It originates in the Tatlatui Range of the Skeena Mountains, and flows southwest about 50 km (31 mi) to the Skeena River, about 140 km (87 mi) north of Hazelton and about 160 km (99 mi) east of Stewart. Its watershed covers about 148 km2 (57 sq mi), and its mean annual discharge is 15.4 m3/s (540 cu ft/s).