Map sourced from LINZ. Crown Copyright Reserved. Return to
Lake Forsyth trout fishing page. Each blue square on the map is 1 km across.
When the outlet (at the bottom of the map) is opened the lake drains into the Canterbury Bight. According to a newspaper report in the Christchurch Press dated 25 June 1977, back in 1830 it was possible for a whaleboat to enter Lake Forsyth from the sea. At that time the lake was known to whalers as Mowrey Harbour. The early whalers used it to transport timber from Little River Bush to their whaling stations around the south-western bays. Since those days huge rolling ocean waves have piled shingle high on the beach closing the outlet. Nowadays it is opened only by powerful bulldozers.
