Dease Lake

Dease Lake
Unincorporated community
Dease Lake is located in British Columbia
Dease Lake
Dease Lake
Dease Lake is located in Canada
Dease Lake
Dease Lake
Coordinates: 58°26′00″N 130°01′27″W / 58.43333°N 130.02417°W / 58.43333; -130.02417[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Regional districtKitimat–Stikine
Area
 • Total8.49 km2 (3.28 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Total229
 • Density27/km2 (70/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−08:00 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−07:00 (DST)
Area code250 / 778 / 236
Highways Highway 37

Dease Lake /ˈds/ is a small community in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is 230 km south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) at the south end of the lake of the same name. Dease Lake is the last major centre before the Alaska Highway while driving northbound, and also the junction to Telegraph Creek and the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Dease Lake Indian Reserve No. 9 is nearby and is under the governance of the Tahltan First Nation band government.

The town sits astride a drainage divide separating the basins of the Dease River (to the north) from that of the Tanzilla (to the south), a tributary of the Stikine. As this is a division point between drainage to the Pacific Ocean, via the Stikine, and the Arctic Ocean, via the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, this is part of the Continental Divide.

The town has a school, various stores, a fuel and service station, hotel, and a Northern Lights College campus. It used to have a restaurant and a pub, but both have closed. The town sees a large influx of visitors during the summer months from tourists on their way to the Alaska Highway, Yukon, and Alaska. A majority of these tourists are from Canada or the United States. Dease Lake is also a destination for hunting and other wilderness activities, and the local economy benefits from local gold, copper, and jade mining and exploration activities.

  1. ^ "Dease Lake". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ a b "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population Data table Dease Lake, Unincorporated place (UNP) British Columbia [Designated place]". Statistics Canada. January 30, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.