The deepest lake in North America, draining north through the Mackenzie River.
Surface area
27,200 km²
Maximum depth
about 614 m
Elevation
156 m
Continent
North America
Countries
Canada
Did you know?
Great Slave Lake is the deepest lake in North America, plunging over 600 m.
Little-known fact
In winter its ice grows so thick that an 'ice road' for trucks is built right across the lake.
Highlights
- Deepest lake in North America
- Feeds the Mackenzie River
- Crossed by a winter ice road
Life in the Great Slave Lake
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Northern pike
A long, torpedo-shaped ambush predator that lurks among weeds across the cool rivers and lakes of the north.
North American beaver
Nature’s engineer: its dams create wetlands that reshape whole river valleys.
Waterbirds
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D dive
How deep does a lake go?
A lake is layered from the sunlit, weed-filled shallows down to a cold, dark bed. Tap a zone to dive the submersible through the water column — and meet the life that belongs at each depth.
Tip: hover the column to tilt it · tap a layer to dive
Littoral Zone
The warm, bright band close to shore where sunlight reaches the bottom. Reeds, water lilies and rooted plants grow thickly here, making it the busiest, most crowded part of the whole lake.
Who lives here