Nanaimo Lakes

The lakes are in a highland transitional area between the southern Vancouver Island Ranges and the Nanaimo Lowland.^[4]

The 1:50,000 topographic map quadrangle 92F1 Nanaimo Lakes, published by Natural Resources Canada, is centred on the lakes.^[3] Lake names do not appear on all online mapping services, and Third Lake, not listed by the Watershed Roundtable, but listed in a 1919 guide, and on the Natural Resources Canada map, may not appear on some maps at all.^[5] A lake with a dam at the north end, named "Fourth Lake", is also shown on the map. First Lake and Second Lake, at c. 210 metres above sea level,^[3] are connected by a short stream.^[6] Fourth Lake Dam is privately owned and impounds 38,000,000 cubic metres (1.3×10⁹ cu ft) of water, used for a paper mill.^[7]

• First Lake 49°05′45″N 124°10′00″W,^[3] natural, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long^[6]
• Second Lake 49°05′45″N 124°13′00″W,^[3] natural, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long^[6]
• Third Lake 49°05′10″N 124°19′12″W,^[8] natural, much smaller than the others
• Fourth Lake 49°03′31″N 124°25′12″W,^[9] a reservoir, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long and 2 km² in area^[10]

Timberwest owns four campsites on private land surrounding First Lake.^[11] The lake was stocked with up to 30,000 salmon or trout per year for recreational fishing beginning in 1905 through the early 21st century.^[12][13][6] Fourth Lake can be kayaked.^[10]

In March, 1945, a Fu-Go balloon bomb made in Yamaguchi Prefecture and launched from Japan landed at the lakes. Its firing circuits malfunctioned; it failed to detonate and was recovered and analyzed by a Canadian–American intelligence effort.^[14]

• List of lakes of British Columbia