Lake Gunn is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the South Island of New Zealand, located at .

Geography

A small lake between

Lake Te Anau Lake Te Anau is in the southwestern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The lake covers an area of , making it the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupō) and the largest in the South Island. It is the larg ...

and

Milford Sound / Piopiotahi 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 site. It has been judged the world's top tr ...

, it lies close to the New Zealand State Highway 94 (the Milford Road) and the Divide of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. The small tramping camp of Cascade Creek lies close to the lake's southern end. The west branch of the Eglinton River flows through the lake. There is
Department of Conservation campsite
located within. The lake is within the boundary of the Fiordland National Park, and is surrounded by native bush. Several smaller lakes lie nearby, including

Lake Fergus Lake Fergus is a lake in the South Island of New Zealand, located at . Geography A small lake between Lake Te Anau and Milford Sound, it lies adjacent to the State Highway 94 (SH94; the Milford Sound Road). The lake is within the boundary of th ...

and Lake McKellar. Several mountains stand close to the lake's western shore, notably Melita Peak (1680 m) and the former Consolation Peak (1760 m) which in December 2012 was nominated to be named after Author

JRR Tolkien JRR may refer to: * J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), English writer, poet, philologist and university professor * Jaime Robbie Reyne (born 1985), Australian singer * Jay Robinson Racing, a racing team * Jiru language Jiru is a Jukunoid language ...

to the

New Zealand Geographic Board The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) was established by the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946, which has since been replaced by the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008. Althoug ...

to mark two historic events. "The Divide", the saddle between the valleys of the Eglinton and

Hollyford River The Hollyford River / Whakatipu Kā Tuka is in the southwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for through Fiordland, its sources being close to the Homer Tunnel and in Gertrude Valley in the southern Darran Mountains. At first, t ...

s, lies four kilometres north of the lake.

History

The lake was named after George Gunn, a runholder, who discovered the lake in 1861. the name Consolation Peak originated from local Mountaineer Sir Erskine Bowmar but due to an administrative error was placed on the wrong mountain. In 1980 The Name Consolation Peak was moved to another nearby mountain bearing a JRR Tolkien name Mount

Gondor Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. The third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Return of the King'', is largel ...

(submitted in 1973 at the time of JRR Tolkien's death). Mount Gondor was subsequently omitted from

Land Information New Zealand Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with geographical information and surveying functions as well as handling land titles, and managing Crown land and property. The minist ...

maps from 1980 onwardsOtago Daily Times April 18th 2013 Page 12 File:LakeGunnBush.jpg, Bush surrounding the lake File:Mt.Tolkien_Lake_Gunn_NZ.jpg, Lake Gunn

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Lake Lakes of Fiordland