Lake Superior named among the world’s clearest lakes

Lake Superior has been included in Travel + Leisure’s list of the world’s 10 clearest lakes. The Canada-U.S. lake ranked 10th, with the publication noting that it is both the largest and the clearest of the Great Lakes. Visibility in some offshore areas reaches about 50 feet.

Travel + Leisure highlighted the blue-green water along Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Minnesota’s rocky North Shore, and islands and coves along Ontario’s coast. It cautioned that there is no single global ranking for lake clarity and that measurements can vary by season, weather and location. The lakes selected, however, have documented visibility data or long-term scientific monitoring behind their reputations for exceptionally clear water.

Lake Superior formed about 10,000 years ago in depressions left as an ancient glacier retreated. Its notably clear, low-mineral water has earned it the nickname “Freshwater Sea.” With a surface area of about 82,100 square kilometres, it is the largest of the Great Lakes and holds more water than the other four combined.

Great Lakes Guide says nearly 100 per cent of Lake Superior’s drinking water meets water-quality standards set by the Province of Ontario. The lake is an important source of safe, clean drinking water for communities and wildlife in the region.

Ontario borders the lake to the north and east, while Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan line its southern and western shores. Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie are the two largest Canadian cities on Lake Superior.

The other lakes on Travel + Leisure’s list are Rotomairewhenua (Blue Lake) in New Zealand; Waldo Lake and Crater Lake in Oregon; Lake Mashū in Japan; Lake Baikal in Russia; Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada; Lake Matano in Indonesia; Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia; and Lake Malawi in East Africa.