Nitinat Lake is a large

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 ...

and inlet on the southwestern coast of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The lake is about northwest by road from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, BC's capital on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, and about southwest by road from the town of

Lake Cowichan Lake Cowichan ( Nitinaht: ʕaʔk̓ʷaq c̓uubaʕsaʔtx̣) (pop. 2,974) is a town located on the east end of Cowichan Lake and, by highway, is west of Duncan, British Columbia. The town of Lake Cowichan was incorporated in 1944. The Cowichan R ...

. The city of Port Alberni is about by road to the north. The southern end of the lake lies in

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a national park located in British Columbia, Canada, which comprises three separate regions: Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. Its the Pacific Coast Mountains, are characterized ...

, which also contains Nitinat Hill on the lake's northern shore and Nitinat Cone on the southern shore. Hitchie Creek Provincial Park and Nitinat Lake Ecological Reserve lie on opposite sides of the lakeshore about a third of the way from the lake's northern shore and the point where Nitinat River flows into the lake. On the lake's eastern shore lie Mt. Rosander and the foot of Carmanah Mountain, the eastern part of which is in

Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, originally Carmanah Pacific Provincial Park, is a remote wilderness park located inside traditional Ditidaht First Nation (also spelled diiɁdiitidq) ancestral territory. The park covers a land area of immediate ...

. Nitinat Lake drains into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

just north of the Pacific entrance to the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

via the Nitinat Narrows, a narrow tidal passage about long.

Tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (serv ...

s (ocean waves travelling up the lake) occur on the narrows, the heights of which depend on tide heights, and these can be dangerous. The small

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

village of Whyac lies on the southern lakeshore beside Nitinat Narrows and just north of the First Nations village of Clo-oose, also on the coast. The main volume of Nitinat Lake is salt water, with a thin layer of less dense fresh water floating on top.

Recreation

Nitinat Lake has consistent winds that offer some of the best

kiteboarding Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

and

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

in North America, attracting kiteboarders and windsurfers from around the world.

Nearby lakes

There are many smaller lakes close to Nitinat Lake. Many of them, such as Hobiton Lake, Squalicum Lake, Tsuiat Lake, and Cheewhat Lake lie completely within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, while others such as Doobah Lake and Sprise Lake lie between Pacific Rim National Park and Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park.

External links

Unofficial website
''(last update on webarchive. March 7th, 2016)''
Tourism information
''(consulted on July 20th, 2018)''
Information on the Cowichan and Nitinat lakes and valleys
''(consulted on July 20th, 2018)''

References

{{authority control Lakes of Vancouver Island Lakes of British Columbia Barclay Land District

Recreation

Nearby lakes

See also

External links

References