Everything about Chilko Lake totally explained
Chilko Lake is a
180 km² lake in west-central
British Columbia, at the head of the
Chilko River on the
Chilcotin Plateau. The lake is about 65 km long, with a southwest arm 10 km long. It is one of the largest lakes by volume in the province because of its great depth, and the largest above 1,000 m. It and
Harrison Lake are the largest lakes in the southern
Coast Mountains.
Geography
The inland equivalent of the many
fjords which line the
British Columbia Coast on the other side of the Coast Mountains,
Chilko Lake's glacial valley opens not out onto the ocean, but onto a broad lava plateau that lies inland from the highest section of the main range. The mountains at the head of the lake are among the highest in the province, and two broad, deep glacial valleys connect east to the smaller
Taseko Lakes, which drains northwards parallel to the
Chilko River, both of them converging with the
Chilcotin River which is a tributary of the
Fraser.
Tatlayoko Lake, to the west across another range, isn't part of the Chilcotin-Fraser drainage, however, but is part of the
Homathko River drainage to
Bute Inlet.
The area spanning the head of Chilko Lake and
Taseko Lake basins and the two valleys between the two lakes has been preserved as the
Tsi'l?os Provincial Wilderness Park, which is co-administered by the
Parks Branch of the provincial government and by the
Xeni Gwet'in, who are the residents of
Nemaia Valley and one of the component bands of the
Chilcotin Nation. Tsi'los is the
Tsilhqot'in name for
Mount Tatlow 3,063 m (10,049 feet), which stands in the ranges between Chilko and Taseko Lakes. Higher still are the mountains at the head of Chilko Lake, crowned by 3,182 m (10,440 feet)
Monmouth Mountain, and to the southwest of the lake, between the two arms, is
Mount Good Hope 3,242 m (10,636 ft), with the range rising west from there towards
Mount Queen Bess 3,298 m (10,820 feet), to the south of Tatlayoko Lake and higher still beyond to
Mount Waddington.
History
The area around Chilko Lake was where some of the backwoods manoeuvrings and sit-outs of the
Chilcotin War of 1864 took place, and the Tsilhqot'in people who live here, the Xeni Gwet'in, are said to include descendants of
Klatsassin, the main leader of the war. The vicinity of the lake is also the habitat of some of the last holdouts of the
Chilcotin Country's once-numerous herds of
wild horses, especially in the plateau-terrain area known as the Brittany Triangle area between the
Chilko and
Taseko Rivers, which is currently (2005) a subject of
preservationist vs
resource industry controversy, though not as high profile as other regions of the province.
Projected hydroelectric plans to divert the Taseko Lakes into Chilko Lake, and the combined
Chilko and
Taseko flows into Tatlayoko Lake and via a series of dams down the
Homathko River, have been scrapped because of the provincial park status enjoyed by Chilko and Taseko Lakes. The area between Tatlayoko and Chilko Lakes isn't protected, however, and plans for the dams and power plants in the canyon the Homathko River are still possible. One, the largest, would be built immediately atop the site of the first "battle" of the Chilcotin War, marked on government maps as "Murderer's Bar".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chilko Lake'.
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