Spirit Lake is a lake in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. It is located in the east-central part of the province in the

Porcupine Hills The Porcupine Hills refer to various groups of hills and uplands located in the prairie provinces of Canada, specifically the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They are part of the Manitoba Escarpment, which was the shoreline of the anc ...

and

Porcupine Provincial Forest The Porcupine Provincial Forest is a protected boreal forest in Canada which covers the Porcupine Hills on the border of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. __TOC__ History By the end of the 19th century, Eastern Canada had essentially run out of marke ...

. The lake is part of the Woody River Block of Porcupine Hills Provincial Park and is situated in

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 ...

surrounded by hills, other small lakes, and

muskeg Muskeg (; ; , lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal ecosystem, boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, bog or peatland, and is a standard te ...

. Access to the lake is on the southern side from Spirit Lake Road which branches off Highway 980.

Description

Spirit Lake is a

bifurcation lake A lake bifurcation occurs when a lake (a ''bifurcating lake'') has Outflow (hydrology), outflows into two different drainage basins. In this case, the drainage divide cannot be defined exactly, as it is situated in the middle of the lake. Exampl ...

meaning it has two outflows. At the southern end is a small creek that flows south out of the lake and into neighbouring Elbow Lake. The main outflow is to the north into Island Lake and then into

Midnight Creek Midnight Creek is a river in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The river begins in the heart of the Porcupine Hills and of the Manitoba Escarpment and heads in a generally south-east direction through ...

via Island Creek. To the east of the lake is Spirit Mountain, which rises almost above sea level. To the north-east of Spirit Mountain, Island Lake, and Spirit Lake is Armit Lake, which, other than the western most point, is entirely within the province of

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. Armit lake, which is the largest in the Porcupine Hills, can be accessed from a rough ATV trail that begins at Spirit Lake. At the southern end of Spirit Lake is a campground with lake access. There are no

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

nor other amenities on the lake.

Parks and recreation

Prior to the formation of Porcupine Hills Provincial Park in 2018, the park on Smallfish Lake was part of a provincial recreation site called Woody River Recreation Site. At this site there is a small campground, boat launch, picnic area, fish cleaning station, and lake access. The

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

trail to Armit Lake begins at the campground.

Fish species

Fish commonly found in the lake include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, and

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Saskatchewan Hudson Bay No. 394, Saskatchewan

Description

Parks and recreation

Fish species

See also

References