Steele Lake is a small sized

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 north central

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. It is located about north of the city of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. Named for Ira John Steele, a soldier killed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the lake was originally named Cross Lake, for its distinctive shape, and lent that name to the surrounding

Cross Lake Provincial Park Cross Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada, located west from Athabasca, Alberta, Athabasca and north of Westlock, Alberta, Westlock. The park is situated at an elevation of and has a surface of . The park was establ ...

. Despite its small surface area, Steele Lake's local

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

is quite large, gathering water from the smaller September Lake, Frances Lake, Banana Lake, and other nondescript ponds and creeks. The lake feeds into the Athabasca River catchment area, eventually reaching the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

References

Atlas of Alberta Lakes
{{authority control Lakes of Alberta Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124