Lake of the Woods

Lake of the Woods is a glacial lake on the border between the United States and Canada. Minnesota DNR gives its area as 951,337 acres. Nearly one third of the lake is in Minnesota, which makes it the state's largest lake. The lake is about 68 miles long and up to 210 feet deep, and it holds 14,632 islands. The Rainy River is its main inflow. The lake drains north through the Winnipeg River toward Hudson Bay. Dams were built at its outlets at present-day Kenora, Ontario, in the late 19th century. Since 1919 the binational Lake of the Woods Control Board has managed the lake's water levels. Settlements on the Minnesota shore include Warroad and Angle Inlet. The lake cuts off Minnesota's Northwest Angle, which can be reached from the rest of the state only by crossing the lake or by traveling through Canada.

Public launches on the Minnesota side include the Zippel Bay access in Zippel Bay State Park near Williams, run by the Minnesota DNR. The park was established in 1959 and has boat ramps and a fishing pier. The City of Warroad runs the Warroad Point access, where docks are available. Because boats regularly cross into Canadian waters, U.S. Customs and Border Protection piloted its ROAM app at Northwest Angle resorts in 2017. The app lets boaters report their arrival back into the U.S. from a mobile device. In 2019 the DNR found zebra mussel larvae in the lake and added the Minnesota portion to its list of zebra mussel infested waters. State law requires boaters to clean boats and trailers and drain all water from them.

The lake is known for walleye, sauger, northern pike, perch and lake sturgeon. It is fished year-round, and ice fishing runs from early December to late March.