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Lake of the Woods ( French: lac des Bois) is a lake occupying parts of the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the state of Minnesota. It separates some land in Minnesota, the Northwest Angle, from the rest of the United States so it can be reached from the rest of Minnesota only by crossing the lake or going through Canada. The Northwest Angle is the northernmost part of the U.S. outside Alaska.
Lake of the Woods is fed by the Rainy River, Shoal Lake, Kakagi Lake and other smaller rivers. The lake drains into the Winnipeg River and thence into Lake Winnipeg.
Lake of the Woods is over seventy miles long and wide, and contains over 15,000 islands and 65,000 miles of shoreline - the longest coastline of any Canadian lake.
The lake's islands provide nesting habitat for the endangered Piping Plover and large numbers of American White Pelicans. There are also several hundred nesting pairs of Bald Eagles in this area.
1 Communities near the Lake of the Woods
- Angle Inlet, Minnesota
- Baudette, MinnesotaBaudette is a city located on the Rainy River, southeast of Lake of the Woods, in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,104. It is the county seat of Lake of the Woods County 6. Geography Accordin
- French Portage Narrows, Ontario
- Keewatin, Ontario
- Kenora, OntarioKenora ( 2001 population 15,838) is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario, Canada close to the Manitoba border, about 200km east of Winnipeg. It was originally settled because of gold found in the area. In 1836 a fur-trading pos
- Middlebro, Manitoba
- Minaki, Ontario
- Rainy River, OntarioThe town of Rainy River is situated on the Ontario- Minnesota border. It has a population of 1000. The town is located across from Baudette MN by Highway 11 and Lake of the Woods. External link .
- Sioux Narrows, Ontario
- Warroad, MinnesotaWarroad is a town located in Roseau County, Minnesota, at the southwest corner of Lake of the Woods. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,722. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.
2 Islands in Lake of the Woods
2.1 The Aulneau Peninsula
The largest land feature in Lake of the Woods is the Aulneau Peninsula. It is connected to the mainland with a tiny neck of land at its southeast corner, but a canal (Turtle Portage) was cut through at this point, effectively making the Aulneau an island. The canal is now disused. The Aulneau is approximately twenty miles long and ten miles wide, and contains within it over eighty lakes, the largest of which is Arrow Lake.
The Aulneau Peninsula was named after Father Joseph Aulneau, a French Catholic priest, who was killed in Lake of the Woods. The Catholic Church in Warroad, Minnesota, is named Father Aulneau Memorial Church after him.
2.2 Other Islands
- Big Island
- Bigsby Island
- Oak Island, MinnesotaOak Island, Minnesota is the name of an island and a post office on that island in Lake of the Woods, on the Minnesota/ Ontario border. Island Oak Island is an island near the center of Lake of the Woods at the extreme northeast corner of a section of Min
- Flag Island, Minnesota
- Penasse Island - site of American Point, formerly the most northern point and the most northern post office in the United States
- Magnuson's Island - site of the restored Fort Saint Charles
Ontario lakes
United States lakes
Manitoba
