Our drives along the North Shore of Lake Superior bring back heart-warming memories. We love lake country.....always have, always will.
- Lake Superior contains more water than all the other four Great Lakes combined, plus two more Lake Eries. It's water volume is enough to flood North and South America to a depth of about 1 foot.
- It is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.
- If its shoreline were straightened, it would extend about 2,726 miles...a distance comparable to Duluth, Minnesota to the Bahamas.
- Lake Superior has over 400 islands, including Isle Royale, a national park. Isle Royale is a remote island wilderness in Lake Superior, and vehicles are not permitted on the island itself. It's accessible only by boat or seaplane. Isle Royale was designated as a U.S. Biosphere Reserve, giving it global scientific and educational significance. The national park is owned by the U.S. government and administered by the National Park Service. It's part of the State of Michigan.
- Lake Superior is also known as Gitchigami, which is its Ojibwe name meaning great sea or big water. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the name Gitchigami in his poem, The Song of Hiawatha.
- I visited Longfellow's home in Portland, Maine. While there, I bought a book of Longfellow's poetry, and The Song of Hiawatha is in that book.
- The first French explorers to reach this lake referred to their discovery as "le Lac Superieur." When the British took control of the region, the name became Lake Superior.
- It's difficult to pinpoint the exact number of shipwrecks in this lake due to undiscovered wrecks and historical discrepancies. There is an estimate out there of roughly 550 wrecks in Superior, with a whole lot more undiscovered.
- The North Shore Drive is a 154-mile scenic byway in Minnesota that follows the Lake Superior shoreline, starting from Canal Park in Duluth and ending at the Canadian border.
The Lake Superior Agate is a stunning gemstone found along the shores of Lake Superior. These agates were formed about a billion years ago when gas bubbles in ancient lava flows filled up with silica-rich groundwater. Over time, the process created its distinctive bands and intricate patterns. They can range from about the size of a pea to up to more than 20 pounds. Red, orange and yellow are all caused by iron.Lake Superior Agate - Agate Beach, a public beach at the end of M-77 in Grand Marais, is one of the best beaches to hunt agates in Michigan.
- Lake Superior is larger than the State of Maine. It's a little smaller than Indiana and is larger than South Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and Vermont. Superior is 30 times the size of Delaware and more than seven times the size of Connecticut.
- The lake is known for its muskie, walleye, sturgeon, trout and perch. Several tribes in Wisconsin and Michigan have treaty-reserved fishing rights. This plays a significant role in the commercial fishery, with their own licensing and regulatory frameworks.
- In Along the Bowstring, Julian Ralph (1853-1903) wrote this about Lake Superior:
- "The seas of the world are salty, but this lake is like a colossal diamond--clear, pure, sparkling, lying like a heaven-lighted gem in a bowl of rich greenery fringed with a lace-work of chromatic rocks that take on the most weird and enchanting shapes."
- Gail, Illinois wrote:
- "We Americans are privileged to have this magnificent, beautiful, bountiful, life-giving resource in our country. We must take care of our Great Lakes. It is our duty to protect them."
