Hayward Lake is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 and reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 on the Stave River

Stave River

The Stave River is a tributary of the Fraser, joining it at the boundary between the municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission, about 35 km east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the Central Fraser Valley region....

 in the Lower Mainland

Lower Mainland

The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...

 of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Located in the District of Mission

Mission, British Columbia

Mission, the core of which was formerly known as Mission City, is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River overlooking the City of Abbotsford and with that city is part of the Central Fraser Valley. Mission is the...

 about 60 km east of Vancouver, Hayward Lake is formed by Ruskin Dam

Ruskin Dam

Ruskin Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Stave River in Ruskin, British Columbia, Canada. The dam was completed in 1930 for the primary purpose of hydroelectric power generation...

, which lies about 3 km upstream from the Stave River's confluence with the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 at Ruskin

Ruskin, British Columbia

Ruskin is a rural and industrial area about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver, British Columbia straddling the border between the suburban municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission, on the west bank of the lower Stave River.-History:...

, which sits astride the Mission-Maple Ridge

Maple Ridge, British Columbia

Maple Ridge is a District Municipality in British Columbia, located in the northeastern section of Metro Vancouver. Maple Ridge has a population of approximately 68,949.-History:...

 boundary. The lake begins at the tailrace from the Stave Falls Dam

Stave Falls Dam

Stave Falls Dam is a dual-dam power complex on the Stave River in Stave Falls, British Columbia, Canada . The dam was completed in 1912 for the primary purpose of hydroelectric power production. To increase the capacity of Stave Lake, the dam was raised in 1925 and the Blind Slough Dam constructed...

 and is about 7.5 km in length and an average of 0.5 km wide, with a maximum width of 1.5 km when lengths of small inlets are taken into account.

History

Though cleared of debris since, for many years Hayward Lake was a flooded forest full of dead trees, which had not been logged by the time of the inundation of the canyon of the Stave River, which lies today in the lake's depths behind Ruskin Dam. The original roadbed of the Stave Falls Branch of the British Columbia Electric Railway

British Columbia Electric Railway

The British Columbia Electric Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia.Originally the parent company, and later a division, of BC Electric, the BCER operated public transportation in southwestern British Columbia from its establishment in the...

 climbed the canyon walls, now underwater, but the line was rebuilt as part of the construction of Ruskin Dam and its track along the west side of the lake is now a hiking and biking trail. Trestles used by the railway are still present along this route, although their ends have been demolished to prevent access for safety reasons. The west side trail, and a hiking-only route on the east side of the lake, are part of a BC Hydro recreation division project; a park at the lake's upper end, where there had been a townsite during construction of the Stave project, now has a public beach and includes a bandstand built for the filming of We're No Angels

We're No Angels (1989 film)

We're No Angels is a 1989 comedy film directed by Neil Jordan. It stars Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore.-Plot:A couple of 1930s Great Depression-era convicts, Ned and Jim, jailed on never-specified charges and abused by a ruthless warden, are dragged along when a vicious killer named...

above Stave Dam and moved to its present location afterwards.

The lake is named for the first operations manager of the Stave Powerhouse.

Recreation

In addition to the public beach at the Stave Falls end of the lake, there are small beaches along the lakeside trail. Canoeing on the lake is now mostly safe though some "snags" remain; power boats are not permitted, and canoeing or swimming within 1 km of Ruskin Dam is prohibited due to the risk of being sucked into the Ruskin Powerhouse's intakes, with a log-boom drawn across from shore to shore as a reminder.