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.

Governance

As an international body of water, the lake's water levels are regulated and controlled by the International Lake of the Woods Control Board , part of the International Joint Commission. As early as 1912 water levels were a matter of concern. The governments of Ontario and Canada formed a board of control in 1919. A treaty between Canada and the United States, known as the Lake of the Woods Convention and Protocol, was signed in 1925 and established elevation and discharge requirements for regulating Lake of the Woods based on the IJC recommendations. The joint Canada-Ontario Board of Control continued to exist and retains responsibility for regulating normal water levels (maximum 323.47 metres, minimum 321.87 metres). Only when water levels exceed these levels are they referred to the international board which consists of two engineers, one Canadian, one American.

Communities near the Lake of the Woods

• Angle Inlet, Minnesota
• Baudette, Minnesota
• French Portage Narrows, Ontario
• Keewatin, Ontario
• Kenora, Ontario
• Middlebro, Manitoba
• Minaki, Ontario
• Rainy River, Ontario
• Sioux Narrows, Ontario
• Warroad, Minnesota

Islands in Lake of the Woods

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 the Jesuit Father Jean-Pierre Aulneau , a French Catholic priest, who was killed 6 June 1736 in Lake of the Woods. The Catholic Church in Warroad, Minnesota, is named Father Aulneau Memorial Church after him.

Other Islands

• Big Island
• Bigsby Island
• Oak Island, Minnesota
• 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