The Whitehorse rapids were rapids on the Yukon River in Canada 's Yukon Territory , named for their supposed resemblance to the mane of a charging white horse . The rapids formed where the Yukon River flows across and cuts down through lava flows of the Miles Canyon basalt . These rapids presented a major navigational obstacle on the Yukon River during the Klondike Gold Rush , and lent their name to the nearby town of Whitehorse .
4-534: The Whitehorse dam, constructed in 1957–1958, submerged the rapids beneath the newly created Schwatka Lake . This article about a Yukon location is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Schwatka Lake Schwatka Lake is a reservoir created by the damming of the Yukon River in Whitehorse, Yukon , completed in 1958. The dam provides electrical power generation and
8-557: Is operated by the Yukon Energy Corporation . The White Horse Rapids , which gave the city its name, are now under the lake. The lake was named after Frederick Schwatka , a US Army Lieutenant who was first to explore the total length of the Yukon River. The lake's surface area is approximately 15 hectares (37 acres) and a depth of about 6–8 metres (20–26 ft). A fish ladder has been constructed around
12-489: The hydroelectric dam to allow the passage of Chinook salmon to their spawning grounds upstream of Whitehorse. The Chinook salmon that pass the dam have the longest freshwater migration route of any salmon , over 3,000 kilometres to the mouth of the Yukon River in the Bering Sea . Whitehorse Water Aerodrome , a float plane base, is located on the lake. The lake has been the city's water supply for some years, but
16-399: The city is now converting to relying entirely on aquifers , partly due to the threat of pollution from fuel spills and other activities by people in the watershed of the lake. Previously, there had been talk of moving the float plane base or the water supply to Fish Lake, which is impractically located to the west over a winding, steep road. This article about a Yukon location is
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