| Official Name: | McLeod Lake |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada British Columbia |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of McLeod Lake in British Columbia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | British Columbia |
| Subdivision Type2: | Regional District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Fraser-Fort George |
| Leader Title1: | Governing body |
| Leader Title2: | MP |
| Leader Name2: | Bob Zimmer |
| Leader Title3: | MLAs |
| Leader Name3: | Mike Morris |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1805 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 10.23 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 94 |
| Population Density Km2: | 8.5 |
| Timezone: | PST |
| Utc Offset: | −8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −7 |
| Coordinates: | 54.9847°N -123.0453°W |
| Elevation M: | 756 |
| Elevation Ft: | 2,496 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code span |
| Postal Code: | V0J 2G0 |
| Area Code: | 250 / 778 / 236 |
| Blank Name: | Highways |
McLeod Lake is an unincorporated community located on Highway 97 in northern British Columbia, Canada, 140km (90miles) north of Prince George. It is notable for being the first continuously inhabited European settlement established west of the Rocky Mountains in present-day Canada.
Originally named Trout Lake Fort, it was founded by the explorer and North West Company trader Simon Fraser in 1805 and was for a while known as La Malice Fort, after an employee left in charge during Fraser's absence. It became known soon after as Fort McLeod during the tenure of Archibald Norman McLeod, who was in charge of the post for many years. The site of the fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1953.
McLeod Lake Indian Reserve No. 1, which is adjacent to the non-native community, has a population of around 87, the main residents being an Athabascan Sekani people known as "Tse'Khene" (the people of the rock, in reference to the Rocky Mountains). Having signed Treaty 8 in the year 2000,[3] [4] the natives of the community are trying to direct themselves towards self-government and employment stability.
The lake itself is 2290ha.
A point in the marshes on its southern shore of nearby Summit Lake marks the low point of the divide between the drainages of the Fraser and Peace Rivers, As such it is significant as the prominence col between all points south in the Rockies and beyond and their "parent" summits in northern BC and Alaska. Summit Lake col, at 710m (2,330feet) in elevation, is the low point on the mountain spine of the Americas that connects Pico de Orizaba (5640m (18,500feet)) in Mexico with its next-higher "parent" peak, Mount Logan (5959m (19,551feet)).