Mahood Lake
| Mahood Lake | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | South Cariboo, British Columbia |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 51°54′41″N 120°22′54″W / 51.91139°N 120.38167°W |
| Primary inflows | Canim River, Deception Creek |
| Primary outflows | Mahood River |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 21 km (13.0 mi) |
| Max. width | 2.2 km (1.4 mi) |
| Surface area | 33.5 km2 (12.9 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 197 m (646 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 629 m (2,064 ft) |
| Islands | 0 |
Mahood Lake is a lake in the South Cariboo region of the Interior of British Columbia in Wells Gray Provincial Park. It is drained by the Mahood River, a tributary of the Clearwater River which has cut a deep canyon into Cambrian rocks and Pleistocene glacial moraines. Mahood Lake is fed by the short Canim River, which drains nearby Canim Lake to the west via Canim Falls and Mahood Falls.
The lake is 629 metres in elevation, 197 metres deep at its deepest point, approximately 33.5 km² in area, 21 km (13.0 mi) in length (east to west) and a maximum of 2.2 km (1.4 mi) in width. Mount Mahood is immediately south of the lake and rises to 1,812 m (5,945 ft).
There are no written records about First Nations visits to Mahood Lake, but they did use this valley because pictographs can be seen about halfway along the south shore. The Mahood Lake area was the centre of considerable attention between 1872 and 1874 when three separate groups of Canadian Pacific Railway surveyors passed along its shores. Their objective was to find a feasible route for the railway from Yellowhead Pass in the Rocky Mountains westward to the Pacific Ocean. Marcus Smith, the head of British Columbia surveys, was a strong advocate for the major Pacific railway terminus being at the head of Bute Inlet, a fjord which penetrates the Coast Mountains some 225 km north of Vancouver. While examining his favoured route eastward from the inlet in September 1872, he spent a grueling few days traversing Mahood Lake’s rugged northern shore. His diary contains a gripping account of the hazards along this route and a declaration that "These last two days were the hardest I have had on the surveys, and we were in constant danger." His journey coincided with that of James Adam Mahood, who had been chosen by the C.P.R. in 1871 to head another survey party heading west to the Chilcotin. By chance, on September 17, 1872, the two expeditions met near the mouth of Mahood Lake. Smith and Mahood spent a day together comparing their notes and sketches.
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