Porters Lake, Nova Scotia

Porters Lake
Porters Lake
	Porters Lake in the Fall of 2015.
Location	Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Coordinates	44°43′40″N 63°18′00″W / 44.72778°N 63.30000°W
Type	Glacial Lake
Primary inflows	East Brook, West Brook
Primary outflows	Rocky Run
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	19 kilometres (12 mi)
Max. width	1 kilometre (0.62 mi)
Surface area	N/A
Max. depth	30 metres (98 ft)
Surface elevation	0 m
Islands	several small islands in the south part of the lake
Settlements	Porters Lake, Nova Scotia

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Porter's Lake in Nova Scotia

Porters Lake (2011 population: 3,202)^[1] is a residential community in the eastern shore region of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, between Trunk 7 and Route 207, 27.8 km from Halifax. The residents mainly commute to jobs in Dartmouth, Burnside Industrial Park or in Downtown Halifax. The community is built around the lake from which it takes its name.

The Lake

Porter's Lake is 19 km long, but never more than a kilometer wide and is in the shape of a crescent. The depth of Porter's Lake varies significantly from the north end to the south end; the south end is approximately 5 meters deep on average, but the north end averages around 12 meters deep, with one part of the lake reaching 30 meters in depth.^[2] It is one of the most popular lakes for recreational boating in the region. The Lake is connected to the Atlantic Ocean near Lawrencetown Beach, because of this, the lake varies in salinity from almost completely fresh water at the north end to nearly that of ocean water at the south end. The communities which surround Porter's Lake include, Porter's Lake, Middle Porter's Lake, West Porter's Lake, East Lawrencetown, Three Fathom Harbour and Seaforth. Crowell Road and West Porters Lake Road, run along the west side of the lake. Porters Lake Provincial Park is located off West Porter's Lake Road along the west side of the Lake. Hwy 107 crosses over the Lake and Hwy 7 runs north of the Lake. Hwy 207 runs south of the lake until just past Three Fathom Harbour, where there is limited access to the Lake by road on the east side as the highway and residential communities run along the Atlantic Ocean coast.

Parks

Porters Lake Provincial Park^[3]

2008 Fire

On June 13, 2008, a forest fire broke out destroying two houses, damaging more than 20 others and burning almost 4,800 acres. More than 5,000 residents were evacuated from their homes and several major roads were closed for 3 days.^[4] The fire was believed to have been caused by a camp fire, though the Royal Canadian Mounted Police laid no charges. It was determined that residue from Hurricane Juan fueled the fire, which was the largest fire in an urban area of Nova Scotia, and the largest fire overall, in 30 years.