Lake Minnetonka (

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

: ''Mní iá Tháŋka'') is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located about west-southwest of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Lake Minnetonka has about 23 named bays and areas. The lake lies within Hennepin and Carver counties and is surrounded by 13 incorporated municipalities. At , it is Minnesota's ninth largest lake. It is a popular spot for local boaters, sailors, and fishermen.

History

Early history

The first people who inhabited the Lake Minnetonka area were indigenous natives who migrated to the region at the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

circa 8000

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. Later peoples who inhabited the area between 3500 BCE and 1500 CE are commonly referred to collectively as the "

Mound Builders A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...

" because they constructed large land features serving spiritual, ceremonial, burial, and elite residential functions. The Mound Builder culture reached its apex circa 1150 CE and ceased to exist circa 1500 CE. By the 1700s Lake Minnetonka was inhabited by the Mdewakanton people, a subtribe of the Dakota Nation. Although their primary settlements lay within the Minnesota River Valley, the Mdewakanton frequented Lake Minnetonka to hunt, fish, and harvest

wild rice Wild rice, also called manoomin, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both ...

and

maple sap Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tre ...

. Spirit Knob, a peninsula near present-day

Wayzata Wayzata ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Wayzata is situated along the northern shore of Lake Minnetonka about west of Minneapolis. Known for its small-town character and lakeside lo ...

, held spiritual significance for the Mdewakanton. Following the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...

, however, the Dakota were banished from Minnesota and forced to leave the area. The first

Euro-Americans European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent E ...

known to have visited Lake Minnetonka were two teenage boys, Joe Brown and Will Snelling, who canoed up

Minnehaha Creek Minnehaha Creek ( dak, Mniȟáȟa Wakpádaŋ) is a 22-mile-long (35 km) tributary of the Mississippi River that flows east from Gray's Bay Dam on Lake Minnetonka through the suburban cities of Minnetonka, Hopkins, Saint Louis Park, and Edin ...

from

Fort Saint Anthony Fort Saint Anthony (Portuguese: ''Forte de Santo António''; Dutch: ''Fort Sint Anthony'') was a fort built by the Portuguese in 1515 near the town of Axim, in what is now Ghana. In 1642, the Dutch captured the fort and subsequently made it part ...

in 1822. However, few other Euro-Americans visited the lake or even knew of its existence for three subsequent decades . Lake Minnetonka was officially named by Minnesota's territorial governor,

Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815 April 22, 1903) was an American politician. He served as a Whig and Republican over a variety of offices between the 1840s and the 1880s. He was the first Minnesota Territorial Governor. Early years and fa ...

, in 1852. He had been informed that the Dakota used the phrase ''Mní iá Tháŋka'' (“the-water-they-speak-of-is-large” in the

Dakota language Dakota (''Dakhótiyapi, Dakȟótiyapi''), also referred to as Dakhota, is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language. It is critically endan ...

) to refer to the lake.

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

, the lake's first white settlement, was established the following year. The first steamboat on Lake Minnetonka, a small side-wheel steamer named ''Governor Ramsey'', was launched in 1861. Travel to Lake Minnetonka remained relatively difficult, however, until the

Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and the SP&P) was a shortline railroad in the state of Minnesota in the United States which existed from 1857 to 1879. Founded as the Minnesota and Pacific Railro ...

extended a line to Wayzata in 1867. Peter Gideon, an early Minnesota

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, moved to the Lake Minnetonka area in 1853. In 1868 he successfully bred a species of

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

that could withstand Minnesota's harsh winters and named it the "

Wealthy Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

" in honor of his wife. This breakthrough made possible the later developments of the Haralson and

Honeycrisp Honeycrisp (''Malus pumila'') is an apple cultivar (cultivated variety) developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 ...

apples in 1913 and 1974, respectively.

Resort years

The construction of

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and boarding houses near Lake Minnetonka boomed during the 1870s and early 1880s. The first large hotel on the lake, the Hotel Saint Louis in Deephaven, was built in 1879 and boasted 150 guest rooms with private verandas. The larger Lake Park Hotel was completed in Tonka Bay later that year. The largest hotel ever built on Lake Minnetonka, the Hotel Lafayette in Minnetonka Beach, opened in 1882. At nearly long and five stories tall, the Hotel Lafayette could accommodate over 1,000 guests. Many guests hailed from the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

and spent entire summers on the lake to enjoy its scenery and cooler climate. Steamer Belle of Minnetonka, Lake Minnetonka

Large steamboats also proliferated on Lake Minnetonka during this time. The first inland steamboat ever to be equipped with

electric light An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

s, ''City of Saint Louis'', was assembled in Wayzata in 1881 and began servicing lakeside communities and resorts later that year. The largest vessel ever to operate on Lake Minnetonka, ''Belle of Minnetonka'', was launched and put into service in 1882. At long, ''Belle of Minnetonka'' could purportedly accommodate up to 2,500 passengers. The lake's first

yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mari ...

, the Minnetonka Yacht Club, was founded in 1882 in Deephaven. Hazen Burton, one of the club's original co-founders, is credited for commissioning the development of the racing scow. When he debuted the first racing scow, ''Onawa'', in 1893, it was disqualified for winning nearly every

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

it entered. The rules were eventually modified, however, and racing scows became popular within the sailing community worldwide. ''Onawa'' is currently displayed at the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society Museum in

. Many of Lake Minnetonka's visitors began finding new places to vacation as the railroads expanded westward in the 1890s, causing most of the lake's hotels and steamboats to suffer financially and cease operations. Some hotels burned during this time, but most were demolished or dismantled. By 1900, however, an increasing number of families had begun to construct private summer cottages around Lake Minnetonka. Permanent homes and grand country estates also began to appear around the lake as the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

metropolitan area grew. Some of these homes and cottages still exist, including the Thompson Summer House in Minnetonka Beach.

Golden years

In 1905 the

Twin City Rapid Transit Company The Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT), also known as Twin City Lines (TCL), was a transportation company that operated streetcars and buses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Other types of transp ...

(TCRT) extended a

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

line to the village of Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka's southern shore. The lake saw dramatic change in 1906 as TCRT also opened Big Island Park on Big Island and debuted its Express Boat service. The Express Boats, casually referred to as “streetcar boats,” were essentially floating streetcars that served the lake's summer residents. Six (and later seven) of these steamboats connected 26 landings around the lake to Excelsior, where passengers could transfer onto streetcars bound for the Twin Cities. Many streetcar boat passengers were lakeside residents commuting to their jobs in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Tourists, on the other hand, could board one of three large ferry boats bound for Big Island Park, where they could picnic, enjoy live music, and ride several attractions. However, TCRT closed Big Island Park in 1911 due to its excessive operating and maintenance costs. Ridership on the streetcar boats began to plummet when roads were improved in the area in the early 1920s. Steamboat service on Lake Minnetonka grew evermore limited during this time, and by 1926 TCRT had suspended all steamboat service on the lake. To rid itself of the vessels, TCRT

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

three of the seven streetcar boats in deep water north of Big Island that summer. Three of the other boats were scrapped shortly thereafter, and one was sold and used as an excursion boat until it, too, was scuttled in 1949. Streetcar service to Excelsior continued until 1932. Crane Island, an island near the western shore of the lake, was organized as a summer cottage retreat in 1907. The Crane Island Association platted a number of lots around the perimeter of the island and dedicated a commons area at its center. Many of the island's original cottages remain, and today it is a historic district listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Several of the area's most prestigious

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...

s, including the Lafayette Club, Minnetonka Country Club, and Woodhill Country Club, were also founded during this period.

Late 20th century

Fred W. Pearce, a well-known

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

operator, opened

Excelsior Amusement Park Excelsior Amusement Park was an amusement park on Lake Minnetonka in the town of Excelsior, Minnesota, United States. The park, which operated from 1925 to 1973, was a popular destination for company picnics and day trips from the Twin Cities. Att ...

in Excelsior in 1925. Attractions included a fun house, the ''Silver Streak'', the ''Scrambler'', a carousel, picnic accommodations, and a roller coaster called the ''Cyclone''. The

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

performed live at the park's Danceland pavilion in 1964 for a crowd of approximately 300. Excelsior Amusement Park continued to be a tourist destination until it closed in 1973. Today the site is occupied by a condominium complex and Maynards Restaurant. In 1926 architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

and his mistress Olga Hinzengberg were arrested for allegedly violating the

Mann Act The White-Slave Traffic Act, also called the Mann Act, is a United States federal law, passed June 25, 1910 (ch. 395, ; ''codified as amended at'' ). It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann of Illinois. In its original form the act mad ...

while vacationing at a cottage in Tonka Bay. The charges were soon dropped after allegations against them were found untrue. Before gaining national fame in the early 1940s, LaVerne, Maxene, and Patty Andrews of

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

spent their summers with relatives in

Mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

, a town in an area known as Westonka. The trio often returned to the area later in life as well. In 1946 Mound Metalcraft was established in Mound. The company changed its name to

Tonka Toys Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...

in the 1950s, when it became known for manufacturing toy trucks. Tonka Toys was purchased by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

in 1991 and is no longer based in Minnesota. Two F4

tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alth ...

ravaged the Lake Minnetonka area during the tornado outbreak of 1965, causing much damage in the communities of Mound,

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, and Deephaven. Hundreds of homes and many local businesses were destroyed during the outbreak. The steamboat ''Minnehaha'', one of the streetcar boats scuttled in 1926, was raised from the bottom of Lake Minnetonka in 1980, restored, and returned to service by 1996. Now operated by the Museum of Lake Minnetonka, ''Minnehaha'' once again carries passengers between the communities of Excelsior and Wayzata as she did over a century ago.

National Historic Districts and Places

The Lake Minnetonka area is home to two National Historic Districts: the Crane Island Historic District and The Water Street Historic District in the community of

. It is also home to 6

sites.

Natural history and limnology

Geography

Lake Minnetonka was formed approximately 10,000 years ago as the

Laurentide Ice Sheet The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glacial epochs, from 2.58 million year ...

receded northward. The lake is a collection of

kettle lakes A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating g ...

connected by channels and marshlands which, along with 18 islands, form its irregular shape and of shoreline. Lake Minnetonka is divided into two halves, the Upper Lake in the west and the Lower Lake in the east, which reflect the easterly flow of water in the lake's watershed. The deepest point of Lake Minnetonka is in Crystal Bay. The average depth of the lake is approximately . With a surface area of , Lake Minnetonka is the ninth largest lake in Minnesota.

Lake Minnetonka bays and lakes

#Black Lake #Brown's Bay #Carman's/Old Channel Bay #Carson's Bay #Cook's Bay #Crystal Bay #East Upper Lake #Emerald Lake #Excelsior Bay #Forest Lake #Gideon's Bay #Gray's Bay #Halsted's Bay #Harrison's Bay #Jenning's Bay #Lafayette Bay #Libb's Lake #Maxwell Bay #North Arm Bay #North Lower Lake #Peavy Lake #Phelp's Bay #Priest's Bay #Robinson's Bay #St. Alban's Bay #St. Louis Bay #Seton Lake #Smith's Bay #Smithtown Bay #South Lower Lake & Echo Bay #South Upper Lake #Spring Park Bay #Stubb's Bay #Tanager Lake #Wayzata Bay #West Arm Bay #West Upper Lake

Hydrology

Several streams flow into Lake Minnetonka, the largest of which is Six Mile Creek. The only outlet from the lake is

. At the

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of Minnehaha Creek near the lake's eastern end, the Grays Bay Dam helps maintain an average water level of above sea level. The flow over the dam ranges from zero to per second, or a daily rate of up to . Evaporation from Lake Minnetonka can reach as high as per day. Annual evaporation from the lake is about 30 inches (76.2 cm), or . This is countered by an average

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

rate of 28 inches (71.1 cm) per year and an average surface runoff rate of 20 inches (50.8 cm) per year. There have been a number of droughts throughout Lake Minnetonka's history, notably during the 1930s and late 1980s. Water levels reached a record low of above sea level in 1937 and a record high of above sea level in 2014. Lake Minnetonka typically freezes over with 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) of

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

during the winter months. The median "ice-out" date, which has been recorded on Lake Minnetonka since 1855, is April 14. The earliest recorded ice-out date was March 11, 1878, and the latest recorded ice-out date was May 8, 1856. Water surface temperatures typically peak at around 80° F (26.7° C) in early August.

Freshwater biology

Lake Minnetonka contains

black bullhead The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (''Ameiurus melas'') is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbels ...

, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin, common carp,

green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usu ...

, hybrid sunfish,

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskell ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrarchi ...

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

, smallmouth bass,

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

yellow bullhead The yellow bullhead (''Ameiurus natalis'') is a species of bullhead catfish, a ray-finned fish that lacks scales. Description The yellow bullhead is a medium-sized member of the catfish family. It is typically yellow-olive to slate black on the ...

, and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

. Some fish consumption guidelines have been placed on the lake's bluegill, common carp, largemouth bass, northern pike, and walleye. According to local legend, a sturgeon in excess of in length has lurked beneath the surface of Lake Minnetonka for many years. Sightings of the sturgeon, which is often referred to as "Lou," have been persistent since the 1980s. In 2019 a large sturgeon was caught by two boys on

. The

Minnesota DNR The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recr ...

speculated that it could have originated from Lake Minnetonka.

Environmental issues

Lake Minnetonka's

environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

became a concern after

curly-leaf pondweed ''Potamogeton crispus'', the crisp-leaved pondweed, curly pondweed, curly-leaf pondweed or curled pondweed, is a species of aquatic plant (hydrophyte) native to Eurasia but an introduced species and often a noxious weed in North America. De ...

was discovered in its waters in 1900.

Purple loosestrife ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Pr ...

was discovered in the lake in 1940, as was Eurasian water milfoil in 1987.

Zebra mussels The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally Introduced species, introduced to numerous other areas and has become an inv ...

were discovered in the lake in 2010. Lake Minnetonka suffered from significant sewage,

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

, and surface runoff

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

until the 1970s. Conditions have since improved, but pollution from fertilizer and surface runoff remains an ongoing issue. Water quality is now closely monitored. It is not uncommon for some Lake Minnetonka

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

to be temporarily closed due to elevated levels of E. coli contamination. An outbreak of an unidentified waterborne pathogen sickened at least 116 swimmers at Cruiser's Cove, a popular party spot near Big Island, in 2019. Lake Minnetonka's environment is currently overseen by three separate agencies. These include the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District, and the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recr ...

Attractions and activities

Some of the most visited attractions on Lake Minnetonka are restaurants. Al & Alma's Supper Club and Charter Cruises was founded in Mound in 1956 and is Lake Minnetonka's oldest continually-operated restaurant and cruise line. Lord Fletcher's restaurant in Spring Park has been one of Lake Minnetonka's most popular establishments since opening in 1968. Maynards Restaurant, established in

in 1998, is another popular waterfront restaurant. Downtown Excelsior and

have since become Twin Cities culinary destinations as many new restaurants continue to appear there. The Old Log Theater, located in Greenwood, first opened in 1940 and is now Minnesota's oldest professional theater organization. Alumni of the theater include actors

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...

and

Loni Anderson Loni Kaye Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress who played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Early ...

. Lake Minnetonka is home to several regional parks owned by

Three Rivers Park District Three Rivers Park District is a special park district serving the suburban areas of the Twin Cities including suburban Hennepin, Carver, Dakota, Scott, and Ramsey counties. Three Rivers's mission is "To promote environmental stewardship through ...

. The largest among these are Lake Minnetonka Regional Park in

Minnetrista Minnetrista, is the home of the Ball Jar and a Gathering Place located in Muncie, Indiana with exhibits and programs that focus on nature, local history, gardens, and art. The campus includes a museum with changing exhibits, the historic home ...

and Noerenberg Gardens in Orono. Three Rivers Park District also maintains two regional bike trails near the lake. Two other large public parks on Lake Minnetonka include Big Island Nature Park and the Excelsior Commons. Boating,

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

, and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

are the most common activities on Lake Minnetonka. Boats of all sizes and horsepower may be legally launched on Lake Minnetonka, but speed and noise restrictions do apply. The lake has four active

yacht clubs A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mari ...

and an antique and classic boat society known as the Bob Speltz Land O' Lakes Chapter of the ACBS. Several cruise companies operate larger excursion vessels on the lake, the largest of which is Al & Alma's ''Bella Vista''. Lake Minnetonka's magnificent homes are a common highlight on these sightseeing, dinner, and brunch cruises. Other activities on Lake Minnetonka include

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, kayaking, and

standup paddleboarding Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Stand up paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water, and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was doc ...

during the summer, and

ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters Longe ...

snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

, and

ice yachting An iceboat (occasionally spelled ice boat or traditionally called an ice yacht) is a recreational or competition sailing craft supported on metal runners for traveling over ice. One of the runners is steerable. Originally, such craft were boats ...

during the winter. Several community festivals are held around the lake each year. Some of the larger events include James J. Hill Days in Wayzata, Apple Day in Excelsior, and the Spirit of the Lakes Festival in

In popular culture

Thurlow Lieurance Thurlow Weed Lieurance (March 21, 1878 – October 9, 1963) was an American composer, known primarily for his song "By the Waters of Minnetonka". He is frequently categorized with a number of his contemporaries, including Charles Wakefield Cadman, ...

's song "By the Waters of Minnetonka" was published by the

Theodore Presser Company The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music pub ...

in 1913 and has since been recorded by artists such as Glenn Miller and

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', in which he c ...

. It is speculated that

Jimmy Hutmaker Jimmy Hutmaker (April 18, 1932 – October 3, 2007), also known as "Mister Jimmy", was a celebrity in Excelsior, Minnesota until his death on October 3, 2007. Life Hutmaker was born April 18, in 1932 in New Germany, Minnesota and moved with his ...

, a resident of

, inspired

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

to write the 1969

song "

You Can't Always Get What You Want "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones on their 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by ''Rolling Stone'' ...

" after a chance encounter with the star at a local drugstore in 1964. However, this claim has long been disputed. Singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt's self-titled debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

was recorded at an abandoned summer camp on Lake Minnetonka's Enchanted Island in 1971. Several scenes from the 1972 films '' The Heartbreak Kid'' and ''

Slaughterhouse-Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to h ...

'' were filmed at Lake Minnetonka. Perhaps the best known association is that with local music icon

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. His third album, ''

Dirty Mind ''Dirty Mind'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was released on October 8, 1980, by Warner Bros. Records and produced entirely by Prince at his home studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota ...

'', was recorded at a home on Lake Minnetonka's North Arm in 1980. Prince rented and lived at the home between 1979 and early 1981. He ultimately settled in

Chanhassen Chanhassen is a city about southwest of Minneapolis in Carver County and partially in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The southwest edge of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul suburbs, there is a mix of residential neighborhoods and rural ...

, approximately two miles south of Lake Minnetonka, in 1987. Lake Minnetonka is famously mentioned in the 1984 film '' Purple Rain'' during a scene in which The Kid (Prince) tells his love interest (

Apollonia Kotero Patricia Apollonia Kotero (born August 2, 1959) is an American singer, actress, former model and talent manager. She is known for co-starring in Prince's 1984 film '' Purple Rain'' and for having been the lead singer of the girl group Apolloni ...

) to "purify erselfin the waters of Lake Minnetonka." After she enters the water, Prince reveals that the water she has entered is not actually Lake Minnetonka.

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

mocked the scene in a 2004 episode of ''

Chappelle's Show ''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were ...

'' when he asked (as Prince), "Why don't you purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka?" while winning a basketball game. In an episode of the television series ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

'', Dylan (

Luke Perry Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...

) tells Brenda (

Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...

) that his privileged background enabled him to spend summers in Paris as a child. Brenda reacts by saying "You mean ''you'' went to Paris every summer? ''We'' went to Lake Minnetonka!" Lake Minnetonka received some unwanted national attention in October 2005 following an incident known as the

Minnesota Vikings boat party scandal On October 6, 2005, an alleged sex party occurred on Lake Minnetonka with seventeen members of the Minnesota Vikings football team; including quarterback Daunte Culpepper, Fred Smoot, Mewelde Moore, Pat Williams, Bryant McKinnie, Nate Burles ...

. Lake Minnetonka was briefly featured in the reality television series ''

Keeping Up with the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian–Jenner blended family, airing between 2007 and 2021. Its prem ...

'' in 2011. Shots of Lake Minnetonka were included in the

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the 2015 song "

Cool for the Summer "Cool for the Summer" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released as the lead single from her fifth studio album ''Confident (album), Confident'' (2015) on July 1, 2015, by Hollywood Records and Island Records, and premiered on ra ...

" by

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

. Several scenes from the 2017 film '' Wilson'' were filmed at Lake Minnetonka. In insurance, lake side properties of Lake Minnetonka's shore side is considered to be the front door, rather than the road side, called the

Waterfront (area) The waterfront area of a city or town is its dockland district, or the area alongside a body of water. See also *Belgrade Waterfront *Ipswich Waterfront The Ipswich Waterfront is a cultural and historically significant area surrounding the ...

References

External links

Lake information

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District

Lake Minnetonka Conservation District
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Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the ...

Tourist attractions in Hennepin County, Minnesota Tourist attractions in Carver County, Minnesota