Lake Minnetonka

Lake Minnetonka MN

If you are looking for a lake that is larger then life then you will want to head straight to Lake Minnetonka. Lake Minnetonka is a lake that has over one hundred and twenty five miles of shoreline. The lake itself consists of about 14,528 acres and is located west-southwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. With an irregular shape and a great number of bays and islands, this lake has quickly become known as one of the nicest lake resort destinations around.

To really be able to enjoy what the lake has to offer you will want to know about it’s incredible history. The first two people to have visited the lake, or at least that was documented, was that of Joe Brown and Will Snelling from Fort Snelling. These two fourteen-year-old boys discovered the lake by in 1822 by the means of paddling up the Minnehaha Creek. Even though they discovered this amazing lake in 1822, very few people ever went to visit it. It really was not until thirty years later that someone took notice of the lake.

Alexander Ramsey gave the name of “Lake Minnetonka” to the lake in 1852. Ramsey was Minnesota’s territorial governor who at the time, had been told that the Indians in the area used the phrase, which sounded like “minn-ni-tanka” which stood for “big water”. And since 14,528 acres of water is certainly large, Ramsey adopted the name of Lake Minnetonka. In that same year of 1852 the very first settlements were designed and constructed around the lake. A year later, in 1853, the first hotel went up and was open for business.

It really was not until 1855 that the lake minneapolis gained much popularity. In 1855 a gentleman by the name of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem called The Song of Hiawatha. In this poem, landmarks within Minnesota, such as Minnehah Falls was referred to. It was because of this poem that the area suddenly gained national exposure and interest. The introduction of steamboats came in 1861 with the first boat being name after Ramsey in order to honor the person who had given the lake its name.

And then in 1867, after the Civil War, a rail line was opened and operated by St. Paul & Pacific Company, which then connected to the area. It was in 1881 that the first inland steamboat to have electric lights set off and then it was just the following year that the largest ship to ever sail Lake Minnetonka was launched. This ship was the Belle of Minnetonka and is was three hundred feet long and was able to hold a maximum amount of 2500 passengers.

Even though this is amazing history, most people would know this lake the best by is mentioning in the Prince film called Purple Rain. There is a scene in the movie where a woman tries to purify herself in a lake that she believes to be Lake Minnetonka. Since Prince found fame in the 1980s he has lived around the lake area but has never had a lake Minnetonka home right on the lake.

There was the rising of a sunken ship called the Steamboat Minnehaha, a sister ship of the infamous Steamboat Hopkins, from the bottom of the lake. It has been completely restored and now carries passengers between Excelsior and Wayzara just as it did more then a hundred years ago.

In more recent history, Lake Minnetonka received a lot of national attention in 2005 because of a scandal that involved some of the Minnesota Vikings football team. There were allegations that some of the team members took part in a variety of sexual favors for a number of individuals while on chartered boats on Lake Minnetonka. Although not much came of it legally, there was a large amount of embarrassment within the organization.

Lake Minnetonka is extremely popular still for its cruises on the lake. With so many lake cruises available, which include dining and exceptional viewing of the lake, it can be hard to decide which one to go on. There have been rumors in the past that this will end though because of the amount of water that is evaporated from the lake on a daily basis. There is in fact about 30 inches of water, or 11.5 billion gallons of water that is evaporated from the lake on an annual basis. This breaks down to about 50 million gallons of water a day. While this may be scary to hear, it is nothing to worry about as the evaporation is countered by an average rainfall of 28 inches of rainfall and about 20 inches of run off water every year, which means it all, evens out. No one has to worry about the cruises stopping any time soon.

If you are into fishing, Lake Minnetonka is the place to be. It is the best location for fishing in the southern part of the state. It is known for its yellow perch, largemouth bass, walleye, sunfish, and especially the muskellunge. With dozens of fishing tournaments every year there is no reason to not head to Lake Minnetonka and start your fishing season off right. You just never know what kind of luck you will have, as there is a legend of a ten-foot long sturgeon that has been sighted swimming around the lake. For the past thirty years people have referred to this legend creature as Lou. Maybe it is real or maybe it isn’t but the only way to find out is to head to Lake Minnetonka yourself.

Powered By WP Footer