Nanaimo Lakes

For other uses, see Nanaimo (disambiguation).

Nanaimo Lakes are a chain of four lakes composed of three natural—First, Second, and Third Lakes—and one man-made, dammed lake, Fourth Lake, on the upper Nanaimo River, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

Nanaimo Lakes
First Lake
Nanaimo Lakes
Location	Regional District of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia[1]
Coordinates	49°06′00″N 124°10′15″W[1]
Etymology	Snuneymuxw First Nation – city of Nanaimo
Part of	Nanaimo River
Catchment area	At least 23,000 hectares (57,000 acres)[2]
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	4 miles (6.4 km)
Surface elevation	210 metres (690 ft)[3]

Geography

The lakes are in a highland transitional area between the southern Vancouver Island Ranges and the Nanaimo Lowland.^[4]

The 1:50,000 topographic map quadrangle 92F1 Nanaimo Lakes, published by Natural Resources Canada, is centred on the lakes.^[3] Lake names do not appear on all online mapping services, and Third Lake, not listed by the Watershed Roundtable, but listed in a 1919 guide, and on the Natural Resources Canada map, may not appear on some maps at all.^[5] A lake with a dam at the north end, named "Fourth Lake", is also shown on the map. First Lake and Second Lake, at c. 210 metres above sea level,^[3] are connected by a short stream.^[6] Fourth Lake Dam is privately owned and impounds 38,000,000 cubic metres (1.3×10⁹ cu ft) of water, used for a paper mill.^[7]

• First Lake 49°05′45″N 124°10′00″W,^[3] natural, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long^[6]
• Second Lake 49°05′45″N 124°13′00″W,^[3] natural, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long^[6]
• Third Lake 49°05′10″N 124°19′12″W,^[8] natural, much smaller than the others
• Fourth Lake 49°03′31″N 124°25′12″W,^[9] a reservoir, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long and 2 km² in area^[10]

Parks and recreation

Timberwest owns four campsites on private land surrounding First Lake.^[11] The lake was stocked with up to 30,000 salmon or trout per year for recreational fishing beginning in 1905 through the early 21st century.^[12][13][6] Fourth Lake can be kayaked.^[10]

Nanaimo Lakes fire balloon

In March, 1945, a Fu-Go balloon bomb made in Yamaguchi Prefecture and launched from Japan landed at the lakes. Its firing circuits malfunctioned; it failed to detonate and was recovered and analyzed by a Canadian–American intelligence effort.^[14]

See also

• List of lakes of British Columbia