Lake Hauroko

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Lake Hauroko
Location	Fiordland National Park, Southland District, Southland Region, South Island
Coordinates	46°00′S 167°20′ECoordinates: 46°00′S 167°20′E
Primary outflows	Wairaurahiri River
Basin countries	New Zealand
Max. length	40 km
Surface area	63 km²
Max. depth	463 m
Islands	1

Lake Hauroko is located in a mountain valley in Fiordland National Park in the South Island of New Zealand. The long S-shaped lake is 40 kilometres in length and covers an area of 63 km². The surface is at an altitude of 150 metres above sea level, and the lake is 463 metres deep. It is New Zealand's deepest lake.

One of the country's southernmost lakes, it is 35 kilometres northwest of Tuatapere, between the similarly-sized lakes Monowai and Poteriteri. It drains via the 20 kilometre-long Wairaurahiri River into Foveaux Strait 10 kilometres to the west of Te Waewae Bay.

The small island on the lake is the focus of several local myths, particularly one among some who consider the island cursed; such stories are dismissed by local Māori.

The island is as the remains of a Maori princess with her cape still wrapped around her shoulders was found by a man visiting the island. He went back to the shore from the island and luckily told this to a deer stalker as he promptly died of a heart attack. The entombed body of the Maori princess reamins there today. It is said she was put there in the 17th century. It is said that her prince would have been waiting in a similar cave somewhere else, but his body and cave have never been found.