Toke (lake)
Toke is a lake in Drangedal municipality in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway, consisting of Upper and Lower Toke, which is connected via , literally 'the stream'. At the north end of Upper Toke is the town center Prestestranda. In the south, Lower Toke reaches into Bamble () and into Kragerø, where its outlet is in at the Dalfoss hydroelectric plant. The lake, with its inflow, constitutes the majority of the Kragerø watershed. With a surface of about and a drainage basin of , Toke is a substantial body of water in Telemark. Its approximately -long shoreline, a large part of which  consists of an old lakebed with clay and deposits of silt, is strongly exposed to erosion because of development for power production. With its long shoreline and innumerable larger and smaller islands and narrow bays, Toke is a popular destination for boaters and sport fishers. Trout, Arctic char, whitefish, and perch are all found in the lake. The municipality's investment areas for the development of leisure housing are mainly located around Tokevassdraget and in the Gautefall area. The municipality's plans for these areas provide for increased use of the areas for outdoor recreation. History. After the last ice  age, about 9,500 years ago, the sea along the coast of Telemark was about higher than today. Where Toke is currently, Drangedalsfjorden reached about onto land from Kragerø, through Drangedal, and up to Bø in Tørdal. The land rose quickly after the weight of the ice had gone. After about 1,000 years Toke became a lake, as it is known today. At the bottom of Rørholtfjorden, about under the surface of the sea, a layer of saltwater still exists from that time. Since the arrival of humans in the area, Toke has served as a main artery between the sea  and the inland. Remnants from the Stone Age are found spread along the banks and on the islands of the lake. Cairns from the Bronze Age and Iron Ages are a common sight along the water's edge. Boat traffic. In 1864, a canal was constructed in Straumen, 'the stream', between Upper and Lower Toke to make trade with larger vessels possible, and to make the transport of timber easier. Steamboat traffic started the same year, with which serviced the Prestestranda-Merkebekk stretch. In the fall of 1888, the more luxurious joined the boat traffic. The owner of this boat , Halvor H. Strømme, had plans to build a canal in the area from Merkebekk down to the sea, but nothing came of it. Trains and buses overtook most transportation then, and "Tokedølen" ran out of steady traffic around 1923. "Turist" continued operating until 1929, when transport was taken care of by tugboats and barges. Car traffic to Grenland was dependent on ferry transport across Lower Toke from Vefall to Kjenndalen, over the Vefall sound. This area was served by the ferry captain Karl Straume, first with barges of increasing size, and later with self-built ferries. The last ferry, , went  out of service when "riksvei" (RV) 356 was built. RV356, on the east side of Toke and across , opened for traffic on 15 December 1967. This was the last inland ferry in this kind of trade in Norway. Today the sightseeing boat sails on Toke: from Prestestranda in the north to Rørholtfjorden in Bamble and Merkebekk in Kragerø to the south. Regulation. Around 1530, water-powered sawmills came to the area, and the use of saws and export of timber grew steadily. All of the rivers running into Toke were dammed for saw operation and timber transport, as well as  Toke's outlet to the Lundereid river down towards Kragerø, where more sawing occurred, making use of the hydropower before the water went out into the sea. Since the beginning, regulation has been the subject of repeated complaints from the landowners along Toke, including Drangedal municipality. They believe that the water rights are misinterpreted, and that the banks around Toke are illegally washed out unnecessarily every year.