Pickle Lake is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and is the most northerly community in the province that has year-round access by road. Located north of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

, highway access is via Highway 599, the only access road to the town from the south. More northerly communities rely on

winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice.Proskin et al, 2011. Guidelines for the Construction an ...

s for access and are cut off to land travel in the summer. Highway 599 meets the

Northern Ontario Resource Trail The Northern Ontario Resource Trail (NORT) is the designation of two mainly gravel roads in the Canadian province of Ontario. One road travels north from Pickle Lake to the northern shore of Windigo Lake, then to the North Caribou Lake First Na ...

, formerly Tertiary Highway 808, at Pickle Lake. The Township of Pickle Lake has a population of 425 and its main industries are transportation (by air and land) and tourism. Pickle Lake Airport serves as the supply point to northern

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 ...

. It is an access point for animal watching, with many opportunities to view moose, woodland caribou, timber wolf, black bear, game birds, bald eagles, song birds, and

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

such as ducks and geese. It is also a popular fishing and hunting destination. The town is sometimes referred to as the gateway to Ontario's "Last Frontier" because of its remote location. Pickle Lake has its own detachment of the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

. The community is located on the north-east shore of Pickle Lake, from which it takes its name.

History

Pickle Lake was founded as a local transportation centre for mining activities after gold was discovered nearby in 1928. From that time until 1995 over 2.5 million ounces of gold were produced in the area. Copper was also mined near Pickle Lake in the 1970s. Exploration for gold and copper in the Pickle Lake area continues to this day. Jack Hammell's Pickle Crow Gold Mines (1935–1961) produced 1,446,214 ounces of gold. Alex and Murdoch Mosher's Central Patricia Mine (1927–1951) produced 621,806 ounces. Pickle Lake was incorporated as a township in 1980. It got its name from the shape of the lake which resembled a cucumber, or 'Pickle'. The township also includes the former townsites of Central Patricia and Pickle Crow. Both formerly independent settlements, Central Patricia now consists only of a few buildings located at the terminus of Highway 599 within the township, while Pickle Crow is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

. After the Pickle Crow gold mine was shut down in 1966, the

Ministry of Natural Resources An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

set fire to the site as part of its program to clean up abandoned mines.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Pickle Lake had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Historic populations: * Population in 2016: 386 (−8.7% from 2011) * Population in 2011: 425 (−11.3% from 2006) * Population in 2006: 479 (+20.1% from 2001) * Population in 2001: 399 * Population in 1996: 544 * Population in 1991: 654

Climate

Pickle Lake has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

that closely borders on a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfb''/''Dfc)'', and did have a subarctic climate based on 30-year means as late as 1961 to 1990 before the most extreme impacts of anthropogenic

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. Winters are cold and dry with a January high of and a low of . Snowfall averages with reliable cover from November to April. There are 17.3 nights where the temperature will drop below . Summers are warm and wetter but short with a July high of and a low of . There are 4.8 days where the temperature will exceed . Precipitation tends to be higher during the summer months, with each month from June to August averaging 16 days with measurable precipitation. The highest temperature ever recorded in Pickle Lake was on 19 June 1933. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 8 February 1934.

Media

Pickle Lake's only local media service is the new CJTL-FM, which airs a mixed

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

and

format. The region is otherwise served through

rebroadcaster A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

s of services from larger cities such as

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Radio

* FM 96.5 – CJTL-FM,

* FM 98.5 – CFDK-FM,Decision CRTC 92-731
''CRTC'', October 16, 1992 ''(defunct)'' * FM 105.1 – CBQP-FM,

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

(relays

CBQT-FM CBQT-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Thunder Bay, Ontario, broadcasting at 88.3 FM, and serves all of Northwestern Ontario through a network of relay transmitters. History The station was launched in 1973 as ...

)

References

External links

* {{Kenora District Mining communities in Ontario Municipalities in Kenora District Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Township municipalities in Ontario