Minnesota is known for it's many lakes and rivers. In fact, we have so much water that on a per capita basis, Minnesota has more registered watercraft than any other state.
Here are a few facts to help support those claims:
Lakes, rivers, and wetlands facts
General
Minnesota's waters flow outward in three directions:
North to Hudson Bay in Canada
East to the Atlantic Ocean
South to the Gulf of Mexico
Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota is the largest water-based park in the National Park System.
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By the numbers
Counties with no natural lakes:
Mower, Olmsted, Pipestone, Rock
Number of lakes:
11,842 (10+ acres)
Number of natural rivers and streams:
6,564 (69,200 miles)
Wetlands acreage present in 1850:
18.6 million acres
Wetlands acreage present in 2003:
9.3 million acres
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Names
Ten most common lake names:
Mud, Long, Rice, Bass, Round, Horseshoe, Twin, Island, Johnson, Spring
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In-Depth
Deepest inland lake:
Portsmouth Mine Pit near Crosby (450 feet and rising)
Deepest natural lake:
Lake Saganaga, Cook County (240 feet deep)
Depths of other lakes: Name County Maximum Depth
Lake Superior -- 1,290 feet
Ten Mile Cass 209 feet
Lower LaSalle Hubbard 204 feet
Loon Lake Cook 202 feet
Rainy St. Louis 161 feet
Leech Cass 150 feet
Cass Beltrami / Cass 120 feet
Otter Tail Otter Tail 120 feet
Minnetonka Hennepin 113 feet
Vermillion St. Louis 76 feet
Winnibigoshish Cass 70 feet
Mille Lacs Mille Lacs 42 feet
Upper Red Beltrami 18 feet
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Size and Length
Ten largest lakes (entire lake within borders of Minnesota):
Red Lake (both "Upper" and "Lower") - 288,800 acres
Mille Lacs Lake - 132,516 acres
Leech Lake - 111,527 acres
Lake Winnibigoshish - 58,544 acres
Lake Vermilion - 40,557 acres
Lake Kabetogama - 25,760 acres
Mud Lake (Marshall County) - 23,700 acres
Cass Lake - 15,596
Lake Minnetonka - 14,004 acres
Otter Tail Lake - 13,725 acres
Largest border lakes:
Lake Superior (20,364,800 acres total with 962,700 acres in Minnesota)
Lake of the Woods (950,400 acres total with 307,010 acres in Minnesota)
Longest shoreline:
Lake Vermilion, St. Louis County (290 miles of shoreline)
Minnesota River length:
370 miles
Mississippi River length in Minnesota:
680 miles
State and national Wild and Scenic Rivers:
589 miles
Total Area Covered by Lakes and Rivers (deep water):
2,560,299 acres
Total surface water area including wetlands:
13,136,357 acres
Lest I digress........
The Mighty Minnesota river (total length 370 miles) runs through Mankato and at one time was a very important link. People and provisions were carried between Minneapolis and Mankato bringing prosperity to the area.
The river is no longer used for transportation and is mostly eye candy to those who enjoy natures beauty.
With that beauty comes some natural problems like flooding, especially in the spring after a winter of heavy snow.
About 35 years ago the Army Corps of Engineers built a concrete dike system to protect the city from the huge amount of water that flooded the city on a regular basis.
With the walls came a distinct disconnect between enjoying the natural beauty of the river. Now the city is doing some work to bring us back closer to the river so we can enjoy it once again.
The river isn't ugly by any means, but sections of it have been defaced over the years. This picture shown where an old cement plant stood for years.
Right now crews are working to tear down the plant so it can be turned into a green space and developed with a beautiful backdrop of the river.
Some of the roadwork has been completed so they are making some progress.
A few years ago the city hired a company to come in and give rides on large boats on the river. That was a real treat to navigate the river like our forefathers did in the 1800's.
I will keep you updated on progress.
Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"
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