Lake Mégantic (french: Lac Mégantic, ) is a body of water in Québec, located in the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
near the U.S. border. It is a source of the
Chaudière River which drains into the St Lawrence River at Québec City. The lake has a surface area of with several villages and small towns on its shores, including
Lac-Mégantic,
Frontenac,
Marston, and
Piopolis. It is part of
Le Granit Regional County Municipality, a rural region where forestry and granite extraction are important activities.
Toponymy
The name may derive from ''Namagôntekw'', which in the
Abenaki language means ''place where there is trout in the lake''. The name has had many variants, including ''Amaguntik'' on maps documenting the
1775 American invasion of Quebec.
Physical geography
The water surface is above mean sea level and the lake has an average depth of ; its total surface area is , with a total shoreline of . Its length is about and it has an average width of .
Conservation
It is the site of the Lake Megantic Marsh, a 755 hectare habitat that hosts migratory birds and is a breeding site.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Megantic, Lake
Lakes of Estrie