Lake Mégantic


Lake Mégantic is a body of water in Québec, located in the Appalachian Mountains near the U.S. border. It is a source of the Chaudière River which drains into the St Lawrence River at Québec City. The lake has a surface area of with several villages and small towns on its shores, including Lac-Mégantic, Frontenac, Marston, and Piopolis. It is part of Le Granit Regional County Municipality, a rural region where forestry and granite extraction are important activities.

Toponymy

The name may derive from Namagôntekw, which in the Abenaki language means place where there is trout in the lake. The name has had many variants, including Amaguntik on maps documenting the 1775 American invasion of Quebec.

Physical geography

The water surface is above mean sea level and the lake has an average depth of ; its total surface area is, with a total shoreline of. Its length is about and it has an average width of.

Conservation

It is the site of the Lake Megantic Marsh, a 755 hectare habitat that hosts migratory birds and is a breeding site.