Slocan Lake is a
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
in the
Slocan Valley of the
West Kootenay region of the
Southeastern Interior of British Columbia,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. With an area of it has a maximum depth of . It is fed by Bonanza Creek and drained by the
Slocan River.
In 1947, a Canadian Pacific locomotive was lost in the lake when a barge on which it was being carried sank. The locomotive was located in 2020. The largest community on the lake is a village known as Slocan City.
Description
The lake is drained by the
Slocan River, which flows south from the lake's foot at
Slocan City through the
Slocan Valley to South Slocan, British Columbia, where that river meets the
Kootenay River a few kilometres above its confluence with the
Columbia. It is fed by Bonanza Creek, which comes down the pass from Summit Lake, beyond which is the town of
Nakusp on
Upper Arrow Lake.
In addition to Slocan City (officially now a "village", but usually referred to locally by its old name of Slocan City to distinguish it from Slocan Park and South Slocan), other towns and communities on the lake include the twin communities of
New Denver
New Denver is a village in the Regional District of Central Kootenay, Central Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada at the mouth of Carpenter Creek (British Columbia), Carpenter Creek, on the east shore of Slocan Lake, in the West Kootenay ...
and
Silverton, midway up the lake's eastern shore,
Rosebery slightly north of them at the mouth of Wilson Creek, and Hills at the lake's north end. To the west of the lake is the Valhalla Range (or "the Valhallas"), most of which is enshrined in
Valhalla Provincial Park.
The mountains to the east of Slocan Lake were the focus of the
silver rush known as "the Silvery Slocan", during which steamboats and railways penetrated the Kootenay Range east of the lake to
Sandon, the "capital" of the rush and the destination of three railways, two from the direction of Slocan Lake via
Carpenter Creek, the other via Retallack Pass from
Kaslo on
Kootenay Lake. The 1902 discovery of zinc in the area also aroused interest and excitement.
BC Highway 6 follows the eastern shore of Slocan lake from Hills to Slocan City and down the Slocan River from there. The
Canadian Pacific rail line from Nakusp via Bonanza Pass now dead-ends at Rosebery Slip, on Slocan Lake, but originally ran into Sandon.
Canadian Pacific No. 3512
On January 1, 1947 the Canadian Pacific No. 3512 Locomotive sank in the lake after the rail barge it was on sank after taking on water. Together with it some caboose and a Rotary Snowplow it sank to the bottom of the lake. The locomotive was located in 2020.
Gallery
File:Slocan Lake (1) BC.jpg
File:Slocan Lake (2) BC 07-2004.jpg
File:Slocan Lake (15995871222).jpg
File:Slocan Lake (3571686445).jpg
File:Slocan Lake.jpg
File:Slocan Lake, Roseberry,BC, Canada - panoramio.jpg
File:'10 cyrstal clear water, can see to the bottom, near the Molly Hughes mine - panoramio.jpg
See also
*
List of lakes of British Columbia
This is an incomplete list of lakes of British Columbia, a province of Canada.
Larger lake statistics
*
List of lakes
1
*101 Mile Lake
*103 Mile Lake
*105 Mile Lake
*108 Mile Lake
A
*Adams Lake
*Albreda Lake
*Alouette Lake
*Alic ...
References
BC Names entry "Slocan Lake (lake)"!--various info sources when found-->
;Notes
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Lakes of British Columbia
Kootenay Land District
Slocan Valley