Saunders Lake is located in the United States state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. It is a lake that is west-southwest of Minneapolis–St. Paul in the Minneapolis

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The first

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settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

s came to the area near Saunders Lake in the 1850s. In 1854, Nathaniel Sanders and J. F. Buck settled on its shores. Saunders Lake was named for Nathaniel Sander

The lake is a large, Type 5 wetland, classified as a Natural Environment lak

The lake outlets through a small Channel (geography), channel to

Lake Langdon Lake Langdon in Mound, Minnesota, has an area of . Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) charts show its maximum depth of , though it would be classified as a shallow lake with a mean depth of . It is named for R. V. Langdon, the first townsh ...

, which discharges through a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...

under County State-Aid Highway 110 into Lost Lake, which outlets into Cooks Bay of

Lake Minnetonka Lake Minnetonka (Dakota: ''Mní iá Tháŋka'') is a lake located about west-southwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lake Minnetonka has about 23 named bays and areas. The lake lies within Hennepin and Carver counties and is surrounded by 13 inc ...

. It is part of the Langdon Lake subwatershed of the

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District's mission is to collaborate with public and private partners to protect and improve land and water for current and future generations. The Minnehaha Creek in its name refers to the water link from Lake Minnet ...

(MCWD). The

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between Black (also called Flanagan) and Saunders Lakes consists of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and has been identified by 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, recre ...

as a regionally significant area with outstanding

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

value. Most of this area has been incorporated into Gale Woods Regional Park by the

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 ...

. Saunders Lake scores highly on vegetative

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fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, and is classified in the

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category.

Wildlife

The lake is considered by many to be a great

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxis'' ...

fishing lake, and catfish and sunfish are also present. Beavers are present as evidenced by the downed trees on its north shore.

Gallery

File:Saunders Lake Mound MN 01.jpg, Looking towards the island on Saunders Lake File:Saunders Lake Mound MN 02.jpg, Fall day on Saunders Lake File:Saunders Lake Mound MN 03.jpg, The island on Saunders Lake File:Saunders Lake Mound MN 04.jpg, A deer on the shore of Saunders Lake

Water Quality

has graded Saunders Lake a B− for water quality on a scale of A–F. Lakes with a B grade are defined as, “Generally good water quality but algae may limit swimming, particularly toward the end of the summer.”

References

External links

Saunders Lake AssociationMCWD subwatershed info
{{authority control Lakes of Hennepin County, Minnesota Lakes of Minnesota

Wildlife

Gallery

Water Quality

See also

References

External links