Good Spirit Lake's main inflow, Spirit Creek, flows into the lake at the northern end. At the southern end of the lake is a dam that was built to regulate water levels. The lake's outflow is from a channel that leads away from the dam and into a tributary of the Whitesand River.[6]
History
In the winter of 1774–75, Matthew Cocking of the Hudson's Bay Company stayed at the lake and called it "Witch Lake". In the late 1800s, the local postmaster Robert Russell Smith named it Devil's Lake as the naming was a misinterpretation of the Cree / Salteaux word "manitow", which actually means "good spirit". The European settlers of the time could not believe a spirit could be "good" so the term "Devil" was used. The local post office continued to use the name Devil's Lake until it closed in 1954.[7]
Near the end of the last ice age, a river ran through the area now occupied by the lake. The river had deposited the sands that make up the lake's sandy shores and bottom and the dunes at the southern end of the lake. The dunes, which reach a height of up to five storeys, are within Good Spirit Provincial Park and there are interpretive hiking trails that traverse them.[8]
Parks and recreation
Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park[9] is located along the lake's entire western and southern shores and it has three campgrounds with over 200 sites, a beach, picnic area, boat launch, and hiking trails.[10] A section of the Trans Canada Trail winds its way around the park and the Dune Discovery Interpretive Trail goes through sand dunes.[11][12] In the winter season, many of the trails are groomed for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
Other parks, campgrounds, resorts on Good Spirit Lake include:
