Thutade Lake is located in the

Omineca Mountains The Omineca Mountains, also known as "the Ominecas", are a group of remote mountain ranges in the Boreal Cordillera of north-central British Columbia, Canada. They are bounded by the Finlay River on the north, the Rocky Mountain Trench (here fil ...

of the

Northern Interior , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Interior" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivi ...

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 ...

. About in length, and no more than about wide, the lake is primarily significant as the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. The

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 ...

is at the head of the

Finlay River The Finlay River is a 402 km long river in north-central British Columbia flowing north and thence south from Thutade Lake in the Omineca Mountains to Williston Lake, the impounded waters of the Peace River formed by the completion of the W.A. ...

, which joins the

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

via

Williston Lake Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Geography The lake fills the basin of the upper Peace River, backing into the Rocky Mountain Trench which is whe ...

. The area is very remote, being located about north of

Smithers Smithers is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Middle English term "smyther", referring to a metalsmith, and is thus related to the common occupational surname Smith. The name Smither is related. People *Alan Smithers (born 1938), ...

, although several

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

operations for ores containing copper, lead, zinc and silver have occurred around the lake. The largest of these is the

Kemess Mine The Kemess Mine was an open-pit copper and gold mine, located just northeast of the foot of Thutade Lake, at the head of the Finlay River, in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was operated by Royal Oak ...

, an iron and copper property originally owned by

Royal Oak Mines Royal Oak Mines Incorporated was a gold mining company, founded in 1990 by Margaret "Peggy" Witte (now known as Margaret Kent) in Kirkland, Washington. The company held numerous gold and base metal properties in Canada, including the Giant Mine i ...

and now by

Northgate Minerals Northgate or North Gate may refer to: Historical structures * Northgate, Chester, part of the city wall, in Cheshire, England * St Michael at the North Gate, a church in Oxford, England Places * Northgate, Gauteng, South Africa Australia * Nor ...

, located in the valley of Kemess Creek, which is off the northeast end of Thutade Lake. The mine is accessed by the

Omineca Resource Road The Omineca Country, also called the Omineca District or the Omineca, is a historical geographic region of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, roughly defined by the basin of the Omineca River but including areas to the south which allowed a ...

and other resource routes, and is by road from Prince George. Just downstream from the outlet of Thutade Lake, the Finlay plunges over the

Cascadero Falls Cascadero Falls is a waterfall on the Finlay River in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located just below that river's head at the outlet of Thutade Lake. The height of the falls is 180 ft and below it there are numerous cas ...

, and then through a series of cataracts in a twisting course until it begins its main northeastward trend. Cascadero Falls is slated for hydroelectric development in connection with the power needs of the area's mines. South and west of Thutade Lake lies the

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

, across which is the watershed of the

Mosque River The Mosque River is a tributary of the Skeena River in the Stikine Region of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It originates in the Tatlatui Range of the Skeena Mountains, and flows southwest about to the Skeena River, about north of Ha ...

, a tributary of the

Skeena River The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (after the Fraser River). Since ancient times, the Skeena has been an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan—whose n ...

History

The first European to explore the lake and its surrounding area was

Samuel Black Samuel Black (May 3, 1780 – February 8, 1841) was a Scottish fur trader and explorer, a clerk in the New North Nest Company (XYC) and Wintering Partner in the North West Company (NWC), and later clerk, chief trader, and chief factor in the Huds ...

in 1824. The upper end of the lake is the

Tatlatui Range The Tatlatui Range is a large and very alpine mountain range on the east flank of the upper Skeena River in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has an area of 2307 km2 and is a subrange of the Omineca Mountains which in turn form part of th ...

, which is astride the

Continental Divide of the Americas The Continental Divide of the Americas (also known as the Great Divide, the Western Divide or simply the Continental Divide; ) is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas. The Continental Divide extends from t ...

, and which with the adjoining valley of

Tatlatui Lake Tatlatui Lake is a lake in the Tatlatui Range of the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is the source of the Firesteel River, the uppermost left tributary of the Finlay River, which begins just southeast a ...

forms

Tatlatui Provincial Park Tatlatui Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the southern end of the Spatsizi Plateau and around the headwaters of the Firesteel River, part of the Finlay-Peace River basin and therefore in the Arctic drai ...

References

* Northern Interior of British Columbia Lakes of British Columbia Omineca Mountains Cassiar Land District {{BritishColumbiaInterior-geo-stub