Kennedy Lake (Vancouver Island)
The lake and surrounding region's natural beauty has led to portions of it being protected from the logging industry. Parks adjacent to the lake include Clayoquot Plateau Provincial Park, Pacific Rim National Park, Clayoquot Arm Provincial Park, Kennedy Lake Provincial Park, Kennedy River Bog Provincial Park and the Clayoquot Arm Beach recreation site. The lake is a popular recreation destination for camping, boating and fishing. It is an important spawning habitat for sockeye and various species of salmon and trout, and lies within the Coastal Western Hemlock Biogeoclimatic Zone.
The lake is part of the ancestral lands of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, and is named for the last governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, Sir Arthur Kennedy.
Geography
Kennedy Lake has a surface area of 6,475 hectares (16,000 acres), making it the largest lake on Vancouver Island. It has an irregular shape made up of two basins, referred to as the Main Arm and the Clayoquot Arm, connected by a narrow sill. While the mean depth of the lake is 38 metres (125 ft), the sill dividing the two arms is less than 10 metres (33 ft) depth, while the deepest part of the lake reaches 145 metres (476 ft). The lake is situated at 12 metres (39 ft) above sea level.
British Columbia Highway 4 winds along the south-east and southern side of the lake, the only highway accessing the communities of Ucluelet and Tofino.
See also
References
- ^ "Vancouver Island Large Lakes Management Plan" (PDF). Fish and Wildlife Branch, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
- ^ "Clayoquot Arm Beach (Tofino)". Recreation Sites and Trails BC.
- ^ Akrigg, G.P.V.; Akrigg, Helen B. (1986), British Columbia Place Names (3rd, 1997 ed.), Vancouver: UBC Press, ISBN 0-7748-0636-2