Burntside Lake is a
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
, located northwest of
Ely, Minnesota
Ely ( ) is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,268 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
Located on the Vermilion Range (Minnesota), Vermilion iron range, Ely once ha ...
, in
Saint Louis County,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
. Its western boundary adjoins the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA) comprises of pristine forests, glacial lakes, and streams in the Superior National Forest. Located entirely within the U.S. state of Minnesota at the Boundary Waters, the wilderness are ...
on Tamarack Creek.
Native fish include
Bluegill
The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...
,
Golden Shiner
The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish occurs in Eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Commonly used as a bait fish, it is pr ...
,
Green Sunfish
The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of aggressive freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. The green sunfish does not always grow large enough to be an appealing target for anglers, ...
,
Lake Trout
The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater Salvelinus, char living mainly in lakes in Northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, laker, and grey trout. In Lake Sup ...
,
Lake Whitefish
The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...
,
Northern Pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...
,
Rainbow Smelt
The rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax'') is a North American species of fish of the family (biology), family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile cisco (fish), ciscoes, zooplankton ...
,
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 fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (bi ...
,
Shorthead Redhorse,
Smallmouth Bass
The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...
,
Walleye
The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...
,
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 ...
and
Yellow Perch
The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...
.
On its shores are two historic resorts with original hand-scribed log cabins, both built in the early 1900s and operating continuously since then:
Burntside Lodge (1913) and Camp Van Vac (1918). The YMCA's
Camp Widjiwagan is also located on the lake's shore.
Burntside Lake's more than 100 islands include
Beach;
Bear;
Berry; Blueberry;
Brownell;
Burnt;
Burntside Islands;
Gem;
Dollar;
Evans;
Good Dog;
Half Dollar;
Honeymoon;
Indian;
Lockhart;
Long;
Lost Girl;
Miller;
Oliver;
Picnic;
Porkchop;
Ripple;
Snake;
State;
Sumpter;
Waters; and many more.
Long Island was recently acquired by the Trust for Public Land.
The Burntside Islands (Snellman and Pine) are SNAs (Scientific and Natural Areas, gifted by the Nature Conservancy)
Burntside Islands Scientific and Natural Area: Minnesota DNR
/ref> held by the DNR.
References
Burntside Lake Association
{{authority control
Lakes of Minnesota
Lakes of St. Louis County, Minnesota
Tourist attractions in St. Louis County, Minnesota