Arrow Lakes

 lake, reservoir

The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Beachland is fairly rare, and is interspersed with rocky headlands and steep cliffs. Mountain sides are heavily forested, and rise sharply to elevations around 2,600 metres.

Originally two lakes, the Arrow Lakes became one 230 km long lake when the reservoir caused by the 1960's construction of the Keenleyside Dam; at low water the two lakes remain distinct, connected by a fast-moving section known as the Narrows. The lake stretches from just north of Castlegar in the south to Revelstoke in the north. Another hydroelectric development diverted Whatshan Lake from the Whatshan River directly into Arrow Lakes, just north of the Needles-Fauquier Ferry.

There are two free highway ferries across the Upper Arrow Lake: the Galena Bay–Shelter Bay ferry at the northern end of Upper Arrow Lake, between Revelstoke and Nakusp; and the Needles-Fauquier ferry further south, on BC Hwy 6 between Nakusp and Vernon. There is also a cable ferry connecting East Arrow Park and West Arrow Park about 28 km. south of Nakusp.

The Arrow Lakes are part of the traditional territory claims of the Sinixt, Okanagan and Ktunaxa peoples, though at the time of contact and during colonization only Sinixt lived along its shores