Bear Island Lake is a lake which is about southwest of Ely in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 ...

. The lake measures , or about by . There are at least 20 other islands in the lake. The shoreline of the natural glacial lake is about two-thirds state and national forest, including

Bear Island State Forest The Bear Island State Forest is a state forest in Minnesota bordered by the towns of Ely, Babbitt Babbitt may refer to: Fiction * ''Babbitt'' (novel), a 1922 novel by Sinclair Lewis ** ''Babbitt'' (1924 film), a 1924 silent film based on th ...

. While deep in parts, several shallow bays and natural sand beaches make it a popular swimming spot.

Fishing

The lake is a naturally self-sustaining lake and includes a large variety of fish, such as

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 ...

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 p ...

, smallmouth bass,

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, bu ...

, crappie, bluegill, sunfish,

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 ...

and

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

. The major inlet for Bear Island Lake is the Beaver River, which has rapids and beaver dams that limit fish movement. The lake's major outlet is

Bear Island River Bear Island River is a river of Minnesota. The river flows through the southeast portion of Morse Township in northern Saint Louis County. See also *List of rivers of Minnesota Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively ...

, which has an old dam that also limits fish movement at low water. Aquatic plants grow to a depth of and are sparse along most of the shoreline of Bear Island Lake.

Skiing

Th
Bear Island Ski Trail
contains of groomed cross country trails. This two-section trail system winds through

Superior National Forest Superior National Forest, part of the United States National Forest system, is located in the Arrowhead Region of the state of Minnesota between the Canada–United States border and the north shore of Lake Superior. The area is part of the grea ...

, with a picnic rock along the trail to Perch Lake, and another section that follows the shoreline of Bear Island Lake.

Other places

Another nearby lake is called

Bear Head Lake Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

and is part of

Bear Head Lake State Park Bear Head Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, providing ready access to outdoor recreation in the Boundary Waters region. It boasts scenery similar to the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with the added co ...

, along with Big Island, which is in nearby

Eagles Nest Lake Eagles Nest Lake is located east of Inlet, New York. The outlet creek flows into Seventh Lake. Fish species present in the lake are brook trout, and lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in l ...

, which is actually three separate lakes named No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. Farther north, along the Canada–US border, is Round Bear Island, which is in

Kabetogama Lake Kabetogama Lake or Lake Kabetogama ( ) is a clear lake in northern St. Louis County, Minnesota. This body of water lies within Voyageurs National Park, and with a surface area of , it is one of the state's 10 largest inland lakes. Kabetogama L ...

and is part of

Voyageurs National Park Voyageurs National Park is an American national park in northern Minnesota near the city of International Falls established in 1975. The park's name commemorates the ''voyageurs''—French-Canadian fur traders who were the first European settle ...

External links

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Topographical Map of Bear Island and Bear Island Lake
{{authority control Lakes of Minnesota Bodies of water of St. Louis County, Minnesota