Lake Mégantic (, ) is a large body of water in Québec, Canada, located in the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
near the U.S. border. It is a source of the
Chaudière River
The Chaudière River (; French for "Cauldron" or "Boiler"; Western Abenaki, Abenaki: Kik8ntekw) is a river with its source near the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Town of Lac-Mégantic, in southeast Quebec, Canada. From its source Lake Mégantic in the ...
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
Le Granit (, ) is a regional county municipality in the Estrie region of eastern Quebec, Canada. Located directly south of Quebec City, it borders the region of Chaudière-Appalaches, as well as the US states of New Hampshire
New Hampshi ...
, a rural region where forestry and granite extraction are important activities.
Toponymy
The name may derive from ''Namagôntekw'', which in the
Abenaki language
Abenaki (Eastern: ', Western: ), also known as Wôbanakiak, is an endangered Eastern Algonquian language of Quebec and the northern states of New England. The language has Eastern and Western forms which differ in vocabulary and phonology an ...
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