Smiths Lake, New South Wales

Smiths Lake is a small village in the Mid North Coast region, located within the Great Lakes Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Smiths Lake is approximately 274 kilometres (170 mi) north of Sydney. Smiths Lake gives its name to the village, situated nearby. At the 2011 census, Smiths Lake had a population of 1,076 people.

The lake

Tourism

Smiths Lake is a popular tourist destination, mostly due to its position next to several waterways. Popular tourist activities include boating and fishing on the local lakes (Smiths Lake, Myall Lakes and Wallis Lake) or swimming and sunbathing at the local beaches (Cellitos beach, Blueys beach, Boomerang beach, Elizabeth beach, and Seal Rocks beach - also the unofficially naturist Shelley Beach). Other activities include nature walks in the surrounding national parks or visiting a regional attraction, such as Seal Rocks lighthouse or The Grandis, the tallest tree known in New South Wales at 84.3 metres (277 ft) tall.

Smiths Lake (New South Wales)

Smiths Lake, an intermittently closed youthful saline coastal lagoon, is located within the Great Lakes local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Smiths Lake is located adjacent to the village of Smiths Lake, and adjacent to the east coast, about 274 kilometres (170 mi) north of Sydney.

Features and location

Drawing its catchment from within Wallingat National Park and the Wamwarra and Tarbuck creeks, Smiths Lake has a relatively small catchment area of 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi) and a surface area of 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi). When full, Smiths Lake covers an area of around 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres).

Part of the lake shore is a sandbar that separates the lake from the Tasman Sea. When the Great Lakes Council deems that the lake water level is too high and may cause flooding to low lying areas around the lake, a trench is constructed from the lake to the ocean using a bulldozer. This releases water from the lake into the ocean and considerably lowers the lake water level.