This small lake near the head of Meander River was named in 1922 for the writer Hulbert Footner (1879-1944). Footner, a native of Brantford, Ontario, and resident of Maryland, was the author of New Rivers of the North (1912), an account of travel through the Peace River Country in 1911. The details of his trip, both overland and in a small craft, the Blunderbuss, are also recorded in a number of photographs donated to the University of Alberta Archives. The range of Footner's writings included mysteries, novels, historical studies and biography. At the time of naming in 1922, it was known as Summit Lake. The lake is currently known locally as Loon Lake. It is also called this in the languages of the Cree, Beaver and Slavey. (see also Meander River)

Approximately 9 km north of High Level.