Lac aux Araignées

It has a surface area of 8.72 kilometres (5.42 mi), and a perimeter of 23.2 kilometres (14.4 mi). Its altitude is 406 metres (1,332 ft), its length is 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) and its width is 3.9 kilometres (2.4 mi). Its catchment area is 150 kilometres (93.21 mi).^[1] Part of the Zec Louise-Gosford is located near the lake. Its main tributaries are: the rivière aux Araignées, the rivière des Indiens and Meads Creek which is fed by many small tributaries whose sources come from the flanks of the mountains, Moose Hill (888 metres (2,913 ft)), Mount Merrill (997 metres (3,271 ft)), Mount Caribou (1,110 metres (3,640 ft)), Mount Pisgah (1,023 metres (3,356 ft)), and the Mont Louise (755 metres (2,477 ft)). These mountains surround a valley which constitutes its watershed. The outlet of the lake passes through lac des Joncs (Mégantic), a pond adjacent to an area of the swamp south of lac Mégantic.^[2]

The lake is called this because of its shape; its many bays in fact give it the shape of a spider. In addition to "Pointe Thomas", the south coast of the lake has a regular shape, while the north coast is indented by four bays, namely Clarke bay, Boyle bay, the bay of the rivière des Indiens and a last one further east. These bays on the north shore are separated by three land projections.

The term "spiders" has also been associated with the river and one of its islands.

In 1775, during the invasion of Canada, the armed troops of General Benedict Arnold struggled in their crossing of the lake because of the marshy surroundings. Documents from this period refer to the lake as "nepis", a term inspired by nebes or nebesek, meaning pond, lake or swamp.

On their geographical map of 1795, Gale and Duberger write the designation “Mecanicamack L.”. In 1815, the cartographer Joseph Bouchette changed the spelling of the initial appellation in the form of Macanamack. This toponym contains the elements of the language of the Abenakis which is related to the meaning of "marshy lake". In the first half of the 19th century, in the process of surveying the townships, the particular shape of this body of water inspired the name "Spider Lake".