Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

on the Columbia River in southeast

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of

Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...

. The reservoir was created by the construction of the

Mica Dam Mica Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam spanning the Columbia River 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty and is operate ...

. The lake includes two reaches, Columbia Reach (to the south) and Canoe Reach (to the north), referring to the river valleys flooded by the dam. To the north it almost reaches the town of Valemount in an impoundment of the Canoe River. To the south it reaches upstream the Columbia River towards the city of Golden. The original, smaller Kinbasket Lake was named in 1866 after Kinbasket, a chief of the

Shuswap people Shuswap may refer to: * Secwepemc, an indigenous people in British Columbia, Canada, also known in English as the Shuswap ** Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, a multi-band regional organization of Secwepemc governments based in Kamloops, British Colu ...

. The modern, large lake was created after the completion of the

in 1973, and was called McNaughton Lake (after Andrew McNaughton) until 1980. A number of small communities were inundated by the creation of Kinbasket Lake, and comprised a region known as the

Big Bend Country In the Canadian province of British Columbia, Big Bend Country is the region around the northernmost section of the Columbia River, which changes from a northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the S ...

, a subregion of the

Columbia Country Columbia Country refers to the upper basin of the Columbia River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It includes a smaller region known as the Columbia Valley, near the river's headwaters at Columbia Lake in the Rocky Mountain Trench, a ...

. Among these towns were Mica, Big Bend, Downie,

Boat Encampment Boat Encampment is a ghost town in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The locality was at the tip of the Big Bend on the north shore of the Columbia River. The general vicinity, on the former Big Bend Highway, was by road ...

, La Porte and Beavermouth.

References

External links

Place name history for Kinbasket Lake
Lakes of British Columbia Columbia River Reservoirs in British Columbia Columbia Country Kootenay Land District {{BritishColumbiaInterior-geo-stub

See also

References

External links