Lake
Last Mountain Lake
Last Mountain Lake is a massive, incredibly popular recreational and fishing lake in southern Saskatchewan. It is the largest naturally occurring body of water in the south of the province; only man-made [Lake Diefenbaker](/lake-diefenbaker/) is larger.
The lake starts about 40 km NW of Regina, and extends north to a few KM SW of Nokomis. It is around 93km long and 3km wide at its widest. To give you an idea of the scale of this lake, parts of it are in eight different rural municipalities!
There are a huge number of communities, resorts, and parks on Last Mountain Lake. Two regional parks, two provincial parks, and three recreation sites are found at the lake. Many options for camping, boating, hiking, and swimming.
The Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary is located at the north end of the lake, and has a viewing tower, hiking trail and driving loop for bird watching.
Bigmouth Buffalo, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Walleye, Lake Whitefish, Burbot, White Sucker, Cisco and Common Carp can be found in Last Mountain Lake. Bigmouth Buffalo is the most unique fish in the lake, only being found in eight spots in the province. The lake has been stocked occasionally in the past. Most recently with northern pike in the 90's and walleye in the 80's. An attempt was even made to stock it with smallmouth bass way back in 1924.
Multiple creeks and rivers flow into the lake, including Arm River, Lewis Creek, and Lanigan Creek. The lake flows out into the Qu'Appelle River via Last Mountain Creek. During high water years on the Qu'Appelle River, Last Mountain Creek can reverse course and flow back into the lake. The water level on Last Mountain Lake is controlled by the Craven Dam on the Qu'Appelle River.
