Lake of the Woods

The Lake of the Woods is a lake occupying part of the US state of Minnesota and parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. Known in French Canada as lac des Bois, the lake is 85 miles (137 kilometers) long and 56 miles (90 kilometers) wide at its widest point and dotted with 14,522 islands. It is the thirty-sixth largest lake on Earth. Lake of the Woods drains into the Winnipeg River and from there into Lake Winnipeg.

The Lake of the Woods is an important recreational area, drawing boaters and fishing enthusiasts to its abundant waterways and walleyes. Hunters, blueberry pickers, fossil hunters, and campers seek out its woodlands. In the winter, hikers strap on snow shoes, and snowmobiles glide along trails. Tourism is vital to the local economies in both countries. Commercial operations over the centuries have included fur trapping, logging, mining, fishing, and paper manufacturing.

Background

The Lake of the Woods is one of many remnants of glacial Lake Agassiz, which was formed during the last two phases of the Wisconsin glacial age. During the Pleistocene Epoch, which was about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered much of the Northern Great Plains and Canada. A mile thick, its weight and movement changed North America’s landscape. It scraped the soil, scooping out great basins. When the climate began to warm about twenty thousand years ago, the edges of the ice sheet retreated, and as the glacier melted, water trickled into these basins, forming the Great Lakes.

The ice sheet prevented many rivers from flowing south. As they backed up, the rivers formed many lakes, including the enormous Lake Agassiz, which was 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) by 200 miles (300 kilometers, or 110,000 square miles (285,000 square kilometers). When the ice sheet finally retreated far enough, Lake Agassiz drained into the Hudson Bay by way of a northern channel, the modern-day Nelson River. What remained of Agassiz were Lake of the Woods and Lakes Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Winnipegosis.

The southern portion of the lake is open water. It rests on the Laurentian strata, ancient stratified rocks. The sand on the shores was deposited by glaciers. The thousands of rocky islands in the North are arrayed in formations, long bands on the Laurentian. These rocks are veined with minerals, and gold has been mined in the area.

The first European to visit the lake arrived in 1688. Jacques de Noyon helped establish a fur-trading route between the Great Lakes and western Canada. Exploration of the interior was accomplished by water travel, journeying from Lake Superior by the Rainy River and Winnipeg River. The Hudson’s Bay Company later established a trading post on the Lake of the Woods’ north shore, likely near the modern town of Keewatin, Ontario.

During the nineteenth century, logging and lumber emerged as major industries in the area. Lumber companies used the lake to transport logs, necessitating the construction of a lighthouse on Tomahawk Island in 1900. This was one of several lighthouses required to help ships navigate the channels of the Lake of the Woods. Commercial fishing operations also were established at the lake.

Overview

The shoreline of the Lake of the Woods is 25,000 miles (40,233 kilometers), although if all the shorelines of the islands are included, the number is 65,000 miles (104,607 kilometers). Management of the lake is overseen as part of the Lake of the Woods Provincial Park. This body includes Bigsby, Dawson, Painted Rock, and Splitrock Islands and the Three Sisters Islands as a nature reserve. Local populations continue some traditional uses of the islands.

The Lake of the Woods has many features. These include Long Point, Buffalo Bay, Muskeg Bay, Whitefish Bay, and the Aulneau Peninsula, as well as some larger islands: Big Island and Bigsby Island. The largest area of open water is the southwestern region, between the large islands and Muskeg and Buffalo Bays. Known as the Big Traverse, most of this area is part of the United States. The deepest point in the lake, located in Whitefish Bay, is nearly 310 feet (94 meters).

Near the center of the lake is the Aulneau Peninsula, which is very nearly a large island; it is connected to the mainland only by a neck of land about 133 yards (122 meters) wide known as Turtle Portage. It is the ancestral home of several Anishinaabe peoples. The peninsula is named for Jean-Pierre Aulneau, a Jesuit missionary who traveled to the region from Quebec in 1735. It remains mostly undeveloped, and travelers may even spy wolves on the peninsula.

Pollution has been a problem in the lake. Paper mills belched waste water into the Rainy River, and from there it flowed into the lake. Phosphorus in this water fed algae, which flourished. City wastewater also polluted the lake. Legislation in the 1970s helped clean up the Lake of the Woods, but it is still prone to algal bloom. Researchers have found evidence that sawdust dumped on the shores and into the river and lake for decades may be contributing to algal growth because it lies in layers alternating with phosphorus, which is continually exposed. Global climate change has also led to warmer lake water, which encourages algal growth.

The islands are home to hundreds of nesting pairs of bald eagles, as well as piping plovers and American white pelicans. In addition to walleye, the lake is also home to crappie, lake sturgeon, lake trout, large mouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, perch, sauger, suckers, and whitefish. Anglers cast their lines from boats of all sizes or motor or paddle to one of the thousands of islands to fish from the shores. Day use of the islands includes picnics, camping, fishing, and swimming.

Bibliography

Bryce, George. “The Lake of the Woods: Its History, Geology, Mining and Manufacturing.” Electric Canadian, electriccanadian.com/history/manitoba/lakeofthewoods.htm. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

Caputo, Carol. “10 Facts About Lake of the Woods.” Northern Ontario Travel, 28 Feb. 2018, www.northernontario.travel/fishing/10-facts-about-lake-of-the-woods. Accessed 8 Sept. 2020.

Kemp, Bruce. "Lake of the Woods

Kives, Bartley. “Getting to Know the Aulneau: A 6-Day Paddle Around the Largest Land Mass in Lake of the Woods.” CBC, 3 Aug. 2020, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/aulneau-peninsula-kayak-lake-of-the-woods-pandemic-travel-1.5664474. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

“Lake of the Woods Provincial Park Management Statement.” Ontario, 3 Oct. 2019, www.ontario.ca/page/lake-woods-provincial-park-management-statement. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

Seitz, Greg. “Unlocking Lake of the Woods.” Science Museum of Minnesota, 18 Mar. 2015, www.smm.org/scwrs/fieldnotes/unlocking-lake-woods. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

Teller, James T., Kathleen M. Rühland, John P. Smol, Trevor J. Mellors, and Andrew M. Paterson. “Holocene History of Lake of the Woods: Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota.” Geological Society of America Bulletin, vol. 130, no. 1–2, pp. 3–23, 1 Jan. 2018, pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/130/1-2/3/353481/Holocene-history-of-Lake-of-the-Woods-Ontario?redirectedFrom=fulltext. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

“Tomahawk Island Light Built in 1900.” Morson Tourism Association Ontario, www.lakeofthewoodstourism.ca/lighthouse. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

“Welcome to the Walleye Capital of the World.” Lake of the Woods, Minnesota, lakeofthewoodsmn.com/. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.