Lake Matapedia is a body of water in the

Matapedia Valley The Matapedia Valley (, ) was formed by the Chic-Choc Mountains of eastern Québec. Its name is derived from the river that traverses the valley, as well as the lake that lies in its center. It is situated in the southwest of the Gaspé Penins ...

, located in the unorganized territory of Lac-Matapédia, in

Sayabec Sayabec (; ) is a municipality located in the La Matapédia Regional County Municipality (RCM) in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the Matapédia Valley between the Chic-Choc Mountains of the Appalachian Mountains, Appalachian ...

, in Val-Brillant, in

La Matapédia Regional County Municipality La Matapédia () is a regional county municipality (RCM) in eastern Quebec, Canada at the base of the Gaspé peninsula, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. Its seat is in Amqui. It is named after the Matapédia River which runs through the western p ...

, in administrative region of

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

, in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and the source of the Matapedia River. The town of

Amqui Amqui (; ) is a town in eastern Quebec, Canada, at the base of the Gaspé peninsula in Bas-Saint-Laurent. Located at the confluence of the Humqui and Matapédia Rivers, it is the seat of La Matapédia Regional County Municipality. The main acce ...

lies at the southeast corner of the lake.

Geography

With an area of , it extends over a length of and a maximum width of between

and

in the

. Matapedia Lake is located in the center of the

and formed by 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 ...

mountain range in the

Notre Dame Mountains The Notre Dame Mountains are a portion of the Appalachian Mountains, extending from the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec to the Green Mountains (Vermont), Green Mountains of Vermont. The range runs from northeast to southwest, forming the southern ed ...

section. Lake Matapedia is located about thirty kilometers south of

Matane Matane () is a town on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The town is the seat for the La Matanie Regional County Municipality. In addition to Matane itse ...

in the former

Seignory of Lac-Matapédia The seignory of Lac-Matapédia () is a forest land located on the north shore of Lake Matapédia in the Matapédia Valley in the unorganized territory of Lac-Matapédia, Quebec, Lac-Matapédia, in Amqui, and in Sayabec, in the La Matapédia Regio ...

granted in

1694 Events January–March * January 16 – Francesco Morosini, the Doge of Venice since 1688, dies after ruling the Republic for more than five years and a few months after an unsuccessful attempt to capture the island of Negropont from t ...

to Charles-Nicolas-Joseph Damours of Louvières. Fed by several watercourses including the Sayabec River at the mouth of which the municipality of

is located, it discharges into the

Baie des Chaleurs frame, Satellite image of Chaleur Bay (NASA). Chaleur Bay is the large bay in the centre of the image; the Gulf_of_St._Lawrence.html" ;"title="Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and the Gulf of St. Lawrence">Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and t ...

by the rivers Matapédia and Restigouche. Lake Matapedia is nicknamed the “Jewel of the Valley”. The riparian municipalities of Lac Matapédia are

, Val-Brillant and Amqui as well as the unorganized territory of Lac-Matapédia.

Toponymy

The spelling of this lake takes several forms depending on the geographers and the times. This body of water is first identified in 1807 on Carey's map in the graphic form of L. Matapediuch. In addition, in 1815, the geographer Joseph Bouchette named Lac Malapediach in his Topographical Description, while writing Metapediach in the index of the work. In 1863, the geographer Stanislas Drapeau presented and lent him the graphic form Matapediac, as well as the road and the township on a published map (ref.: Studies on the development of the colonization of Lower Canada). However, in the text of this work, Drapeau uses the Matapedia spelling for this body of water, the river and the township. In addition, in the 1870 map of Quebec designed by Eugène Taché, the current spelling was used: Matapedia. Father Pacifique writes that the Mi'kmaq name Matapedia comes from "matapegiag", meaning "the river splits into several branches, makes a fork". While Joseph-Étienne Guinard affirms that Matapedia has more the meaning of "junction of rivers", of mata, "junction" and pegiag, "river".Source: Names and Places of Quebec, work by the Commission de toponymie published in 1994 and 1996 in the form of a printed illustrated dictionary, and in that of a CD-ROM produced by the company Micro-Intel, in 1997, from this dictionary. The toponym "Lac Matapédia" was officially registered on December 5, 1968 at the place name bank of the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of place names - Toponym: Lac Matapédia.
/ref>

Tourism

The Lake Matapedia is a good body of water for tourism. Nautical activities such as fishing, sailing, windsurfing and swimming are easily practicable given the low density of users of the lake. In addition, there is a marina in Val-Brillant and an observation and boat launch park called Pierre-Brochu in

. The fine point of Amqui is a large beach where you can practice several activities including camping and wakeboarding. There is also a site developed for camping and a beach at Charlie's Bay (also called Charlie's Bay) in Sayabec and a campground at the Val-Brillant marina. Lac Matapédia is part of the tourist region of Gaspésie in the

sub-region. The

International Appalachian Trail The International Appalachian Trail (IAT; , SIA) was originally a hiking trail which ran from Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, in Maine, through New Brunswick, to the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, after which it followed a ferry route ...

runs along the north shore of Lake Matapedia, connecting

Causapscal Causapscal (; ) is a city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, located in La Matapédia Regional County Municipality. It is located at the confluence of the Matapédia River, Matapédia and Causapscal Rivers, al ...

to the Réserve faunique de Matane.Matapedia Valley and Avignon
on the International Appalachian Trail website, page consulted April 11, 2010]

Gallery

Image:Matapedia_lac.jpg, Lake Matapédia view from Val-Brillant Image:Lac Matapédia - Rive nord.JPG, North shore of lake Matapédia in front of Val-Brillant Image:Lac Matapédia-Rive sud Val-Brillant.JPG, South shore of lake Matapédia at Val-Brillant Image:Lac Matapédia - îles.JPG, Islands of lake Matapédia at the level of Val-Brillant

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Matapedia Matapedia La Matapédia Regional County Municipality

Geography

Toponymy

Tourism

Gallery

See also

Notes and references