Porters Lake is 19 km long, but never more than a kilometre wide and is in the shape of a crescent. The depth of Porters Lake varies significantly from the north end to the south end; the south end is approximately 5 metres deep on average, but the north end averages around 12 metres deep, with one part of the lake reaching 30 metres in depth. It is one of the most popular lakes for
recreational boating in the region. The Lake is connected to the
Atlantic Ocean near Lawrencetown Beach, because of this, the lake varies in
salinity from almost completely
fresh water at the north end to nearly that of ocean water at the south end. The Lake also features a man made canal that connects the lake to the Atlantic east of Rocky Run, the Department of Fisheries began construction in 1911 hoping to create a transportation corridor for raw materials, taking advantage of preexisting infrastructure for the local fisheries at Fisherman's Reserve in
Seaforth, however construction was halted at the outbreak of the
first world war and it was never developed for its intended purpose, only building out to 5 meters of width at its widest and narrowing as it nears the lake, but is navigable by small crafts such as canoes. In 2014 the
Department of Fisheries still owned the land and the federal government briefly had it up for sale as surplus land, as the construction of local highways and for a time the railroad made the project redundant nearly a century before ownership was transferred to the Halifax Regional Municipality. Today it is operated by the Atlantic View Trial Association. The communities which surround Porters Lake include, Porters Lake, Middle Porters Lake, West Porters Lake,
East Lawrencetown,
Three Fathom Harbour and
Seaforth. Crowell Road and West Porters Lake Road, run along the west side of the lake. Porters Lake Provincial Park is located off West Porter's Lake Road along the west side of the Lake. Hwy 107 crosses over the Lake and Hwy 7 runs north of the Lake. Hwy 207 runs south of the lake until just past Three Fathom Harbour, where there is limited access to the Lake by road on the east side as the highway and residential communities run along the
Atlantic Ocean coast. ==Parks==