Lake Quill is a tarn located high up in New Zealand's

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...

. It is located in the Fiordland National Park at 979 m above sea level. It is approximately 1.2km². The lake may have formed by movement of glaciers during the last ice age. The cirque lake is the source of

Sutherland Falls Sutherland Falls is a waterfall near Milford Sound in New Zealand's South Island. The falls are located 13.5nm South West of Chao Pass. At 580 metres (1,904 feet) the falls are the tallest waterfall in New Zealand. The water falls from Lake Qu ...

, one of the highest waterfalls in the country and seventh-highest in the world. They cascade from Lake Quill in three tiers into the Arthur Valley alongside the Milford Track, approximately 20km from

Milford Sound Milford Sound (, officially gazetted as Milford Sound / Piopiotahi) is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage ...

Name

The lake was named after William Quill, who climbed Sutherland Falls in 1890 to be the first European to discover the falls' source. It was previously called Lake William.

Recreation

The lake and its falls are a popular destination for helicopter tours, which allow an encompassing view of the landscape. A less perilous climb to the lake is possible from

McKinnon Pass Omanui / McKinnon Pass (previously spelt Mackinnon Pass) is an alpine pass between Mount Hart and Mount Balloon in Fiordland, New Zealand. The pass is at an elevation of and is located southwest of Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. The pass is the ...

. This destination (as well as the base of Sutherland Falls) can be reached via the Milford Track. This popular multi-day tramp is a great walk and requires booking with the Department of Conservation.

In popular culture

In 2018, the lake was used as a filming location for Mission: Impossible – Fallout featuring

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

flying an

Airbus Helicopters H125 Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been the ...

helicopter. The lake was used as a wallpaper for Microsoft's

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...

and

Windows 11 Windows 11 is a version of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released on October 5, 2021, as the successor to Windows 10 (2015). It is available as a free upgrade for devices running Windows 10 that meet the #System requirements, Windo ...

operating system.

References

{{Fiordland Glacial lakes Fiordland National Park Lakes of the Southland Region