NAHUEL HUAP, LAKE

largest lake (210 sq mi [544 sq km]) and most popular resort area in Argentina's lake district, lying in the wooded eastern foothills of the Andes at an altitude of 2,516 ft (767 m). Nahuel Huap (Araucanian Indian for island of the jaguars) was discovered in 1670 by the Jesuit priest Nicols Mascardi, who built a chapel on the lake's Huemul Peninsula and established an Indian reduccin (work mission). The lake is dotted with islands, including Isla Victoria, which is the site of a forestry-research station. Its waters are deep (more than 1,400 feet ), clear, and cold. Lake Nahuel Huap receives small mountain streams and rivers, and the Limay River, its outlet, joins with the Neuqun and Negro rivers. The lake region was designated the Nahuel Huap National Park in 1934. The park has facilities for boating, fishing, and mountaineering.