Meadow Lake is a small, shallow, oval-shaped lake that is the source of Meadow River and the namesake of

Meadow Lake Provincial Park Meadow Lake Provincial Park is a northern Boreal forest of Canada, boreal forest provincial recreational park along the Waterhen River (Saskatchewan), Waterhen and Cold River (Saskatchewan), Cold Rivers in the Provinces and territories of Cana ...

, despite not being within the park's boundaries. The lake is in the transition zone between the

boreal forest Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...

and

prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

ecozones of Canada Canada has 20 major ecosystems—ecozones, comprising 15 terrestrial units and 5 marine units. These ecozones are further subdivided into 53 ecoprovinces, 194 ecoregions, and 1,027 ecodistricts. These form the country's ecological land classi ...

. Meadow Lake is situated in the Rural Municipality of Meadow Lake No. 588 with the city of Meadow Lake located along the western shore and

Flying Dust First Nation The Flying Dust First Nation ( ''kâ-ohpâwahkâstahk'') is a Cree First Nation band government located adjacent to the city of Meadow Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. Highway 55 goes through the band's reserve community. Indian reserves The band ...

located along the north-west shore, adjacent to the city.

Highway 55 The following highways are numbered 55: International * European route E55 * Arab Mashreq International Road Network, Arab Mashreq route M55 Argentina * Provincial Route 55 (San Luis), San Luis Provincial Route 55 Australia * Carnarvon Highw ...

runs along the northern shore and Highway 799, the southern shore. Highway 4 is west of the lake and provides access to the city.

History

Peter Fidler Peter Fidler (16 August 1769 – 17 December 1822) was a British surveyor, map-maker, fur trader and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in what later became Canada. He was born in Bolsover, Derbyshir ...

was the first European to discover the lake. He was a Hudson's Bay employee who was exploring and mapping the region in 1799 and upon the lake's discovery, he named it ''Lac des Prairies'' and built a 12 foot by 12 foot log fort. He named the fort Bolsover House, after his home town of

Bolsover Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby. It is the main town in the Bolsover district. The civil parish for the town is c ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It lasted only one season before being abandoned and relocated to Green Lake House. While the exact location of the trading post is unknown, it is believed to be near the spot where Meadow River flows out of the lake. A monument was erected in Meadow Lake's Elk's Park in 1955 by the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

to pay homage Peter Fidler.

Description

Meadow Lake is the remnants of a once vast

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

called ''Glacial Meadow Lake'' that existed near the end of the last ice age over 10,000 years ago. Meadow River, located at the north-west corner of the lake, is Meadow Lake's outflow. Meadow River flows generally north-east until it meets Beaver River, which flows into

Lac Île-à-la-Crosse Lac Île-à-la-Crosse is a Y-shaped lake in the north-central region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan along the course of the Churchill River (Hudson Bay), Churchill River. At the centre of the "Y" ...

, which is a lake along the course of the Churchill River–a major tributary of the

Hudson Bay drainage basin The Hudson Bay drainage basin is the drainage basin in northern North America where surface water empties into the Hudson Bay and adjoining waters. Spanning an area of about and with a mean discharge of about , the basin is almost entirely wi ...

. Meadow Lake is situated north of the Meadow Lake Escarpment. A large part of the northern slope of the escarpment is within the lake's

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

and was also the southern limit of Glacial Meadow Lake. The following rivers and creeks flow into Meadow Lake: *Nolin Creek *Chitek River, which starts at Chitek Lake **Lavigne River **Alcott Creek ***Sulby Creek ***Myo Creek

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Saskatchewan Meadow Lake No. 588, Saskatchewan Division No. 17, Saskatchewan

History

Description

See also

References