Lake Fergus facts for kids
Lake Fergus is a beautiful lake located in the South Island of New Zealand. It's a small, peaceful spot found in a stunning natural area, surrounded by native forests.
Where is Lake Fergus?
This small lake sits between two much larger and well-known places: Lake Te Anau and Milford Sound. You can find it right next to New Zealand State Highway 94, which is also known as the Milford Sound Road. Lake Fergus is completely inside the Fiordland National Park. This means it's surrounded by amazing native forests and tall mountains. A part of the Eglinton River flows through Lake Fergus. The water from Lake Fergus then drains into Lake Gunn, which is located just south of it.
How Lake Fergus Got Its Name
The first European explorers to visit this valley were David McKellar and George Gunn in 1861. They were "runholders," which means they owned large farms for sheep or cattle in the Southland area.
Later, in 1889, two other explorers, William H. Homer and George Barber, searched for a new route from Lake Wakatipu to Milford Sound. They started their journey from Glenorchy and traveled through the Greenstone Valley. On January 4, 1889, they saw this lake. They decided to name it after Thomas Fergus, who was a "Member of Parliament" at the time. A Member of Parliament is a person elected by citizens to represent them in the country's government. Thomas Fergus represented the Wakatipu area.
Homer and Barber left a message carved into a log near the lake. It said:
This lake was seen and named on January 4th, 1889, 'Lake Fergus', by W. H. Homer and G. Barber.
During this same trip, on January 27, the explorers found a mountain pass they called the Homer Saddle. William Homer thought that building a tunnel through this saddle would make it much easier to reach the Milford Sound area.
The road past Lake Fergus, now known as State Highway 94, was finished in 1935. This made it much easier for people to visit the lake for the first time. The Homer Tunnel finally opened to traffic in 1953. This gave many more visitors a reason to drive past Lake Fergus on their way to Milford Sound.
