Great Central Lake
lake in British Columbia, Canada
Great Central Lake is a lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located north of Sproat Lake and to the northwest of the city of Port Alberni. It is 45 kilometres (28 mi) long, with an area of 50.85 square kilometres (19.63 sq mi) and mean depth of 124 metres (407 ft), to a maximum of 250 metres (820 ft), making it the second deepest lake on Vancouver Island. The lake is long and narrow, with the exception of Trestle Bay located on the east end of the lake. It is nestled beneath low mountains, with second-growth forest surrounding most of the lake. The water level is controlled by a dam on the east side.
There are approximately 70 residents that live in float houses along the shoreline. Fishing, boating, skiing, wakeboarding, swimming, hiking, camping, and ATVing are common activities on and around the lake.
Geography
Great Central Lake is an oligotrophic lake on Vancouver Island. Located north of Sproat Lake and to the northwest of the city of Port Alberni, it is 45 kilometres (28 mi) long, with an area of 50.85 square kilometres (19.63 sq mi) and mean depth of 124 metres (407 ft), to a maximum of 250 metres (820 ft), making it the second deepest lake on Vancouver Island.
The public source identifies “Great Central Lake” as lake in British Columbia, Canada. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Great, Central and Lake.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Great Central Lake”, the useful work is to connect “lake in British Columbia, Canada” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q317392. VIAF identifies the subject as 1062153184539227100003. The Library of Congress control number is sh2018000046. Authority coordinates are 49.367, -125.167. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Great Central Lake”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Great Central Lake primary sources, Great Central Lake archive and Great research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Great Central Lake”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Great Central Lake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.