Lake Nicolet


Note: not to be confused with another "Lake Nicolet", in Michigan, on the St. Marys River which links Lake Superior with Lake Huron.
Lake Nicolet is located 50 km south of Victoriaville, in the municipality of Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens, in Arthabaska Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Centre-du-Québec, Canada.
Lake Nicolet is the source of the Nicolet River which flows to the southeast shore of lake Saint-Pierre, in Nicolet. The latest is crossed through the North-East by the St. Lawrence River.
This lake is surrounded by Chemin du Lac-Nicolet and Chemin Gosford-Sud.
The lake takes its name from Jean Nicolet, a French explorer at the time of New France who is known to have been the first European to explore Lake Michigan.

Geography

Lake Nicolet is long and wide, resembling a misshapen crescent surrounded by mountains. It has seven islands: Boulanger, Baril, Linke, L'Heureux, à Michel-Rheault, Rolland and a little unnamed island. The main mountain peaks around the lake are: Brûlé Mountain at on the south side of the bay leading to the mouth of the lake; a vertex on the west side and another on the southeast side. This lake has a hundred chalets all around.

Toponymy

The toponym "Lac Nicolet" was made official on December 5, 1968, at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.