Grand Lake (Nipissing District)

Grand Lake
View of Grand Lake
Grand Lake from the Achray campground
Map of Ontario
Map of Ontario
Grand Lake
Location of Grand Lake in Ontario
LocationNipissing, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates45°52′43″N 77°48′33″W / 45.87861°N 77.80917°W / 45.87861; -77.80917
Part ofOttawa River drainage basin
Primary inflowsBarron River, Carcajou Creek
Primary outflowsBarron River
Max. length11.9 km (7.4 mi)
Max. width3.2 km (2.0 mi)
Surface elevation222 m (728 ft)

Grand Lake is a lake in the Ottawa River drainage basin in the geographic townships of Barron and Stratton in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada.[1]

The lake is long and narrow and lies in an east–west orientation, mostly in Barron Township except for the southeastern end which is in Stratton Township; it is entirely within Algonquin Provincial Park. The primary inflows are the Barron River from its source at Clemow Lake at the west and Carcajou Creek that enters the lake over the Carcajou Falls at the head of Carcajou Bay at the southeast.[2] Primary outflow is the Barron River, controlled by the Grand Lake Dam, which flows at the east to Stratton Lake and further via the Petawawa River to the Ottawa River.

Grand Lake is crossed in the middle by the originally Canadian Northern Railway, later Canadian National Railway, main line, abandoned since 1994.[2] The Achray park campground, formerly a station on the railway, is located on the north shore, and the unincorporated place of Hydro[3] is on the former railway line at the western tip of the lake, near where a Hydro One hydroelectricity transmission line passes.

The lake is notable as the location where Tom Thomson painted The Jack Pine.[4] There are also some petroglyphs on the granite cliffs on the north side of Carcajou Bay.[2]

  1. ^ "Grand Lake". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  2. ^ a b c Garry Tarr; Jo-Ann Holden (August 2004). "The Barron Canyon, Grand Lake and Vicinity". www.doe.carleton.ca. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Hydro". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  4. ^ Murray, Joan (1999). Tom Thomson: Trees (1st Canadian ed.). Toronto: McArthur & Co. ISBN 1552780929.