Lake Scugog

Lake Scugog
Lake Scugog on a cloudy day.
Lake Scugog Location in southern Ontario
Location	Durham Region & Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
Group	Kawartha Lakes
Coordinates	44°11′00″N 78°51′26″W / 44.18333°N 78.85722°W / 44.18333; -78.85722Coordinates: 44°11′00″N 78°51′26″W / 44.18333°N 78.85722°W / 44.18333; -78.85722
Type	Artificial, eutrophic
Part of	Great Lakes Basin
Primary inflows	Nonquon River, Blackstock Creek, Cawkers Creek
Primary outflows	Scugog River
Catchment area	529 square kilometres (204 sq mi)
Basin countries	Canada
Surface area	68 square kilometres (26 sq mi)
Average depth	1.4 metres (4 ft 7 in)
Max. depth	7.6 metres (24 ft 11 in)
Water volume	0.0957 cubic kilometres (0.0230 cu mi)
Shore length1	172 kilometres (107 mi)
Surface elevation	249.9 metres (819 ft 11 in)
Islands	Scugog Island
Settlements	Port Perry, Lindsay
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Scugog is an artificially flooded lake in Scugog, Regional Municipality of Durham and the unitary city of Kawartha Lakes in central Ontario, Canada. It lies between the communities of Port Perry and Lindsay. The lake has been raised and lowered several times over its history. Though not technically part of the Kawartha lakes due to its shallow depths, it is often geographically linked to them. Its sole outflow, the Scugog River, connects to Sturgeon Lake. Lake Scugog is in the Great Lakes Basin and forms part of the Trent–Severn Waterway.

The name "Scugog" may be an Ojibwe word meaning "marshy waters". However, according to Place Names of Ontario by Alan Rayburn, Scugog is a Mississauga word meaning 'waves leap over a canoe' in reference, perhaps, to the flooding of the river valley, or, more likely, the quickness that waves can be whipped up in winds, owing to its shallowness.

With 68 km² with an average depth of 1.4 metres, Lake Scugog is amongst the largest five lakes of the Kawarthas by surface area. It is also the shallowest, alongside Mitchell Lake It is fed by the Blackstock and Cawkers Creeks and the Nonquon River, as well as by many small unnamed tributaries. The Scugog River is the only outflow from the lake, flowing into Sturgeon Lake which drains through the Trent watershed. Other communities surrounding the lake include Seagrave, Port Hoover, View Lake and Caesarea. Scugog Island (whose island status is debatable due to the south-western edge being a seasonally flooded swamp) lay in the centre of the lake.