Arrow Lakes, British Columbia
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 49° 52.445 W 118° 05.782
11U E 421222 N 5525207
Arrow Lakes are a pair of long, narrow lakes in southern BC which are actually a widening of the Columbia River as it passes down the valley, 240 km. from Revelstoke to Castlegar.
Waymark Code: WMK4MV
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 02/11/2014
Views: 2
For thousands of years, the Arrow Lakes were two until 1964, when the Keenleyside Dam was constructed west of Castlegar, raising the lakes considerably. Now, the narrows between the lakes appears on occasion in the late winter at low water. Otherwise the lakes form a single lake from end to end.
With the building of the Keenleyside Dam, the level of the lakes was raised 12 meters above natural levels, flooding and requiring the evacuation or moving of several small towns along its shores. Keenleyside, named after Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside, former chairman of the British Columbia Power Commission, was built as one of the Canadian contributions to the Columbia River Treaty, to provide storage for hydro dams downstream on the Columbia, and to generate electricity.
With several provincial and municipal parks bordering them, Arrow Lakes are popular recreational lakes, navigable by boat for their full length of 240 km., plus another 30 km. south to the US border, thanks to the free availability of a lock at Keenleyside. The area surrounding the lakes is mountain forest and sparsely populated along their entire length, save for the odd scattered town. South of Revelstoke, the largest town on the lakes is Nakusp, on Upper Arrow Lake, on Highway 23 about midway between the northern and southern ferry crossings. There is very little settlement on the west side of the lakes.
Given coordinates are about one third of the way up the lake from the south end, at the west landing of the Needles-Fauquier Ferry. Though there are no bridges crossing the lake, there are three ferries which cross it.
Lake Type: Glacial lake
Coordinates location: West landing of the Needles-Fauquier Ferry, at Needles
Max. Length: 240 km.
Max. Width: 4 km.
Max. Depth: 290 m.
Surface area: 464.5 square km.
Website: [Web Link]
Parking / trail head: Not Listed
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